Posted on 10/12/2007 9:27:27 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez on Friday provided a few details about the most eye-popping charges he made with campaign money, but resisted calls to fully explain how tens of thousands of dollars' worth of purchases in Europe and at high-end U.S. retailers were related to official state or party business.
"I'll explain some of the expenditures," Nunez said. "But what I will not do is provide people with the fullest explanation of every single expense because it's not required by law."
Nunez held a Capitol press conference Friday following revelations first in The Los Angeles Times last week that he used campaign money to pay for lavish travel and entertainment and a report Thursday by The Associated Press that he shares a penthouse apartment in downtown LA with his chief fundraiser and also owns a $1.2 million home in the capital.
"I think in the end what people need to understand is this: Every campaign expenditure that I have made either has a governmental purpose attached to it or a political purpose attached to it," Nunez said. "I got nothing to hide, but what I don't appreciate is the in-your-face, gotcha-politics characterization of this."
The speaker's refusal to disclose all the information about his travel expenses and his assertion that his living arrangement does not leave him too cozy with contributors only emboldened those calling for investigations into his spending patterns and relationship with those who raise his money.
"He has offered some explanation and I think that if the expenses are related to promoting California to the world and they're legitimate ... he should have no problem explaining them," said Kathay Feng, executive director of the nonprofit watchdog group California Common Cause.
California law requires that campaign fund expenditures for travel and entertainment be directly related to a political, legislative or government purpose.
Nunez's expenses from campaign funds include $8,745 at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona, Spain; $5,149 for a "meeting" at a wine seller in France's Bordeaux region; and $2,562 for "office expenses" at Louis Vuitton, a Parisian store that specializes in leather goods, clothing, fashion accessories and jewelry, the Times reported. None of those could be easily tied to official business, the Times reported.
Nunez explained that he traveled to Barcelona when he was invited by the president of Spain's parliament and stayed at the hotel the Spanish lawmaker suggested because it was four blocks from the government palace. He said the hotel charge included the cost of a car, driver, and translator.
The meal in France also was business, Nunez said: Lunch for 26 people who traveled to the country to study France's high-speed rail system. At that rate, the $5,149 lunch was still $198 per person.
Nunez also offered a limited explanation for the $2,562 in Louis Vuitton purchases, saying he had run out of gifts for dignitaries and staff and was told the French liked items from the store.
"I don't shop there," he said, adding that the expenses may have been misclassified as office expenses.
Nunez refused to give reporters access to documents that could shed light on more than $70,000 in campaign fund expenditures for travel and entertainment. For one, he said he could not recall why he made a $300 purchase at an upscale shoe store near the Capitol.
The speaker also said he stuck his foot in his mouth when he told a Times reporter who inquired about the travel expenses that he lives like "most middle-class people." That comment was heavily criticized this week by bloggers, newspaper columnists and even his allies in the labor movement.
Still, Nunez challenged reporters to find an example when money from contributors who paid for much of those expenses affected his decision to support or oppose a bill.
"You can look at my voting record and you can compare to see whether the people who are contributing to me are altering in any way, shape or form my vision for California and my commitment."
Nunez needed a Spanish translator in Spain. LOL!!
I wonder what she looked like?
All are equal, but some are more equal than others.
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