Posted on 02/04/2021 4:49:32 AM PST by real saxophonist
Rep. Boebert’s campaign mileage reimbursements raise red flags
by: Matt Mauro
Posted: Feb 3, 2021
RIFLE, Colo. (KDVR) – Rep. Lauren Boebert’s campaign reimbursed her more than $20,000 for driving nearly 37,000 in about seven months, according to federal campaign reports.
The Federal Election Commission filings show that Boebert’s campaign reimbursed her $21,199.52 for mileage between April and Nov. 11, 2020. Candidates use the IRS mileage rate, which is 57.5 cents per mile. That means Boebert drove 36,869 miles in about seven months.
“It definitely stands out,” said Doug Spencer, a campaign finance expert and professor who’s visiting the University of Colorado Law School as Distinguished Faculty Fellow at The Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law. “I think the best baseline to compare her travel to (is) the people who’ve come before her.”
Scott Tipton represented Colorado’s Third Congressional District for 10 years before Boebert.
FEC filings show his campaign reimbursed him $9,797.72 for travel during the decade he was in office and campaigning. That’s less than half of Boebert’s reimbursement for seven months.
Boebert’s opponent in the general election, Diane Mitsch Bush, was reimbursed almost $850 for travel during the campaign.
To put the 36,869 miles in perspective, it amounts to 64 round trips between the ends of the district, Grand Junction and Pueblo, nearly one and a half trips around the Earth and almost one-sixth of the distance to the moon.
“I think it’s fair to expect that different members of Congress will travel different amounts,” Spencer said. “And I think that Congresswoman Boebert has a reputation for getting around her district quite a bit. So, it wouldn’t surprise me to see her travel expenses be higher, perhaps, than her predecessor.”
The story was first reported in the Democratic blog, Colorado Pols, then in the Denver Post.
There are no public reports than an ethics complaint about the reimbursement has been filed with either the FEC or the House Ethics Committee.
Boebert responded to the reports on her personal Twitter page Wednesday.
Regarding the mileage reimbursement, Boebert’s campaign told FOX31:
“Mrs. Boebert ran as a grassroots candidate. She traveled to every nook and cranny of the district to speak with and hear from the people about their concerns. They say showing up is 90% of the battle and Lauren always showed up. Her aggressive travel schedule is a big reason she won. Colorado’s Third Congressional District encompasses more than 47% of Colorado and nearly 50,000 square miles. It should also be noted that posts on her campaign Facebook page represent a small sampling of her actual campaign calendar. She did not post every meeting, fundraiser or campaign event that required travel on social media.”
They are going after her big time.
The author of this is an idiot.
Driving 37,000 what?!
Q for KDVR: And is it the editor’s day off?
I’ll bet she drove to Washington, too.
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
Her own party will probably abandon her so the Democrats don’t have her as an issue to run on in the midterms or something.
And I hate to break it to those enemediots, but when I was taking care of multiple elderly relatives I could easily do that much mileage in that amount of time.
Yes he is, but he's a pretty boy:
As stated, her district covers about half of Colorado.
That seems to be the plan.
37000 miles??? I do that I a year for work not including personal travel. 37k miles wouldn’t be a red flag to me but expected if she has a large and not compact district.
I wonder why the article or author doesn’t mention Mad Max’s campaign cash irregularities???
Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene are perceived as threats to the Deep State Congress and they must be cancelled......
Two women with more chutzpah than a good portion of men in Congress.....(I’m talking to you McCarthy, McConnell, Graham, etc! etc etc etc!)
When I worked, I used to put that kind of mileage on my car every year. For somebody campaigning around rural Colorado, I would expect that.
But they are after her!
Banana republics aren't even as corrupt as the USSA now is.
I was driving 90 - 100 miles a night for my job in northern Colorado. Western Colorado is a LOT bigger.
And check out Doug Spencer.
He’s a piece of work.
No wonder they went to him.
No bias there.
SNORT.
The Swamp hates her, because she takes the Constitution seriously.
If she didn’t drive these miles, it’s fraud and theft.
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