The Republican National Committee spent more than $300,000 on a controversial January convention in Hawaii. RNC spent $300K in Hawaii

The Republican National Committee spent more than $300,000 on a controversial January convention in Hawaii, not including the cost of flying staff to the annual meeting.

A report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday shows the RNC paid $260,742 for lodging, catering, audio/visual equipment and office space in Honolulu – all but $266.40 of it to the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort. A report filed in March showed expenses of $43,836 in Hawaii, bringing the total to nearly $305,000.


Campaign committees are not required to list the departure and destination points for travel expenses, so it is not possible to determine from FEC reports which flights were to Hawaii.

However, one thing is clear from the latest filing: The RNC is helping keep airlines in business.

The committee spent $175,346.71 on air travel in March, including $1,615 for baggage.

An RNC spokesman said he had to do more research before commenting on the expenses.