National Republicans are accusing the media of being either lazy or biased in its reporting on Sen. Mary Landrieu’s recent disclosures that she improperly billed taxpayers for dozens of private flights for events such as campaign stops and fundraisers since 2002.
On Friday, Mrs. Landrieu’s campaign released the results of an internal investigation that found $33,700 in improper billing from a total of 43 flights since 2002. Attributing the mistakes to “sloppy book keeping,” Mrs. Landrieu says she has alerted the Senate Ethics Committee and paid back the cost of the flights.
Mrs. Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat, is one of the most endangered Senate Democrats up for re-election this year and is being challenged by GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy and Republican Rob Maness.
In a memo, the Republican National Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee say that since Friday, the media have spent more time praising Mrs. Landrieu for paying back the money than criticizing her “for treating tax dollars like her personal airline miles.”
“Shame on the media,” reads the memo blasted out Monday morning. “Landrieu has been anything but forthcoming with information about her travel, waiting weeks before calling for an investigation, then missing her own deadline before trying to bury the story in a Friday news dump. Even then her report is far from the complete audit she promised voters. Yet, you’re not giving voters the full story, and you’re revealing either laziness or bias by failing to acknowledge the gravity of Landrieu’s transgressions.”
“Louisiana and the rest of America deserve better, and we’re happy to outline the facts for you to help you tell the whole story,” the memo concludes.
Mr. Cassidy announced Monday he has introduced a resolution that would require members of Congress to report within 30 days when they use public money to fly on a private aircraft about the purpose of the flight and the cost to taxpayers.
An average of recent public polling from RealClearPolitics shows Mrs. Landrieu with a slight lead over Mr. Cassidy, with Mr. Maness well back in third. But she’s well short of the all-important 50 percent mark, which a candidate must reach in order to avoid triggering a Dec. 6 runoff.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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