GOP's Ron DeSantis won't disclose details of taxpayer-funded travel in Congress

Ana Ceballos | The News-Press

While in Congress, Republican Ron DeSantis spent more than $145,000 in taxpayer money for travel, including trips to New York to appear on Fox News as he increased his public profile before his campaign to become Florida's next governor.

But DeSantis is refusing to release records detailing that travel. The former House member who has argued members of Congress should not receive special treatment is using a special exemption given to members of Congress that allows them to withhold public records.

“It’s a voluntary choice he is making. He could certainly choose to tell us more to clear up how he spent his time and taxpayer money," said Lisa Gilbert, the vice president of legislative affairs at Public Citizen, a nonprofit watchdog group.

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, DeSantis' Democratic opponent who like other local and state officials is subject to Florida's open records law, released more than 800 documents detailing how he spent taxpayer money while in office.

Those records show he has used nearly $40,000 in public funds for flights, meals, hotels and conference registration fees, including a trip on city business that he extended to do work for an outside, private job. And a hefty payment to a restaurant that is part of a federal corruption investigation.

The public money used by DeSantis comes from a pot of money that each congressional member gets to run their legislative office—an annual allocation known as the Members' Representational Allowance. During his time in office, he received between $1.1 million and $1.4 million each year to cover things like staff salaries, office expenses, meals and travel.

DeSantis, like other congressional members, submitted a ledger of expenses each quarter to show generally how he was spending taxpayer money from January 2013 when he took office through June 2018.

More: Ron DeSantis campaign refocusing as Florida voting starts

More: Andrew Gillum vs. Ron DeSantis: A voter guide to the Florida governor's race

The information notes, for example, when he bought airline tickets, but it doesn't show where, when, why or with whom he traveled. It also doesn't show how many airline or train tickets he bought, or whether he traveled first-class or coach.

After DeSantis refused to release his taxpayer-funded receipts, his campaign said in a written statement that his travel was "between the district and his office."

The campaign issued another statement after the USA TODAY NETWORK - FLORIDA discovered taxpayers has also covered trips other than those from his Washington office and his Florida home district that included at least two trips to New York for Fox News appearances.

“This was official office travel that included official media appearances,” Stephen Lawson, DeSantis’ campaign spokesman, said in a statement. “This is standard practice in Congress, and there was zero misuse of taxpayer dollars.”

Five Things to Know About the Florida Governor's Race Republican Ron DeSantis will face Democrat Andrew Gillum in Florida's race for governor.

Lawson defended DeSantis as a good steward of taxpayer money.

“He slept in his office and incurred as little expenses as possible. Even while in Florida, he often traveled at his own expense. From declining his government pension to fighting against taxpayer waste, Ron has always looked out for the taxpayer’s best interest and will continue to do so as Governor," Lawson said.

Members of Congress are allowed to use taxpayer money to make media appearances when invited in their official capacity if that is their "primary purpose of travel," according to Courtney Parella, a spokeswoman for the Committee on House Administration.

Without receipts, it remains unclear how many trips DeSantis took at taxpayer expense to make media appearances. It's also difficult without those records to know how often he traveled at taxpayer expense to locations other than his Florida district or Washington office.

His general quarterly expense reports, however, show that he spent more than $1,000 on seven hotel stays since 2013, but DeSantis declined to provide receipts that would show where and for how long he stayed in the hotels.

DeSantis reported 71 commercial transportation expenses during his time in Congress totaling about $143,000. He reported single transportation expenses as high as $8,395 and as low as $66, but it's not clear if those expenses are for a single trip or multiple ones booked at once.

The two trips DeSantis made to New York were identified by the USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA by matching dates included in the broad quarterly expense information that DeSantis provided to the House clerk and transcripts of his appearances on Fox News that show dates and locations of the shows.

More: GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis talks economy and environment at Cape Coral visit

More: GOP's Ron DeSantis gets gambling money in Florida gov race, but won't discuss gaming views

Last October, DeSantis traveled to a New York City studio to appear on Fox News' Outnumbered, an hour-long show featuring four women and one man discussing the day’s headlines.

While he will not provide details of what he spent on the trip for his Oct. 10 appearance, his general reports to the House clerk reflect an $182 expense for lodging and $1,144 for commercial transportation on Oct. 9, and another $119 commercial transportation expense on Oct. 10.

His appearance on the show covered several topics including President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, whether Trump cabinet members should support the president’s agenda or resign, and North Korea tensions.

DeSantis also appeared in a New York City radio studio for a July 17, 2017 radio broadcast of Fox News' The Brian Kilmeade Show. He reported in his quarterly expenses $112 for lodging from July 16 to July 17, 2017, a $165 commercial transportation expense on the day of the broadcast and $276 for the two days for travel costs that includes taxis, parking and tolls.

On the show, DeSantis talked about Donald Trump Jr.’s Russia meeting during the 2016 presidential campaign, arguing it is “not a crime to take a meeting.”

On the campaign trail, DeSantis has cultivated a political outsider persona and vowed to "drain the swamp in Tallahassee." With the help of Fox News, he increased awareness of those beliefs, as well as his staunch opposition to the Obama administration and fierce support of Trump.

When he first ran for Congress in 2012, he ran on the promise of ensuring "members of Congress live under the same laws as the rest of us" and eliminating "special perks and benefits of those in elected office."

Hoping to keep that promise, in 2016, he introduced a constitutional amendment that would have ensured members of Congress abide by the same laws they apply to the American people, including the Freedom of Information Act requiring release of public records.

"Passing laws that apply to the American people but that exempt Congress is inconsistent with the ideals of a republican form of government," DeSantis said in 2016. "Those who serve in Washington should be part of a service culture, not part of a ruling class that lives under its own set of rules."

For Gillum, who is required by law to produce public records, more is known about how he used taxpayer money. As Tallahassee mayor, his travel was done to attend conferences across the country.

Whether it was a U.S. Conference of Mayors in San Francisco or a Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., Gillum flew coach and billed taxpayers for hotels that ranged from $89 a night to $429 a night, expense records show.

Receipts show that in one instance, the mayor spent $128 on an “oceanside dinner” in Amelia Island while attending the 2013 Annual Chamber Community Conference. He reimbursed the city for that expense within two weeks.

More: DeSantis resignation ends dormant ethics complaint that raised questions about donors' ties

More: Ron DeSantis resigns from Congress to focus on gubernatorial campaign full time

His most expensive flight was to Ramat-Hasharon, Israel in 2007, costing taxpayers $2,361 for what was reported as “VIP travel” and a “tour service fee.” No lodging or meal expenses were reported on that trip.

“I was lucky enough to visit Israel in 2007 as part of a City of Tallahassee Sister City exchange trip with other Tallahassee City Commission members to demonstrate our commitment to the strong ties between our respective cities,” Gillum states on his campaign website.

Records also show that in 2006, Gillum extended one taxpayer-funded trip to allow him to do work for his full-time job at the time with People of the American Way. The nonprofit group paid $50 to change a $289 taxpayer-funded flight to Washington. Gillum was traveling on city business to attend the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, but the change to his flight was needed to prolong that trip for non-city matters.

“It would not be a violation of Florida law for Mayor Gillum’s private employer to cover the cost of an extension of a trip was for City business,” Tallahassee City Attorney Cassandra Jackson said. “State law provides that any extra cost is to be borne by the traveler, i.e. the payment for flight increased cost. City travel policy is consistent with State law.”

In addition to travel, Gillum also used taxpayer money for other city expenses.

On June 8 and 9 of 2016, Gillum organized two breakfasts as part of that year's Family First Week at The Edison, a downtown Tallahassee restaurant that has been a focus in an ongoing federal corruption investigation. Prosecutors are looking into how lobbyist Adam Corey, Gillum's longtime friend and former campaign manager in 2014, received $2.1 million in city redevelopment money to renovate the 100-year-old Electric Building into the restaurant.

Gillum, who says he was told by investigators that he is not a target in the investigation, organized the events at the Edison, a popular hangout for politicos in the capital city, which offered Cherrywood bacon frittatas, fruit salads, coffee and assorted bagels to about 72 people for a total of $5,718, expense records show.

Through his campaign, Gillum declined to comment on the city expenses.

Jeff Schweers contributed to this report.