Update (6/28/2019):

After publication of this article and more than 21 hours after being asked for comment, Rep. Joaquin Castro's office said he was not traveling with Rep. Adam Schiff, as described in the draft itinerary. Spokespeople for Reps. Denny Heck and Sean Maloney did not respond to inquiries.

Rep. Steny Hoyer subsequently released a statement saying he is joined by four lawmakers: Reps. Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee; Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma; Val Demings, a Democrat from Florida; and Garret Graves, a Republican from Louisiana.

Original story:

Top Democrats are due to take a taxpayer-funded military jet to Denmark to give speeches at a ritzy pro-democracy conference, raising questions about possible misuse of resources.

Rather than book cheaper commercial flights, Adam Schiff, House Intelligence Committee chairman, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and at least three House colleagues are scheduled to depart Joint Base Andrews on the military plane about 8:45 p.m. Thursday.

Schiff’s Friday speech kicks off a six-day Nordic jaunt that he will lead, according to an unclassified but confidential itinerary seen by the Washington Examiner. Schiff, at least four colleagues, and two committee staff also will stop in Finland and Norway.

All official travel is reimbursed for lawmakers, but commercial flights are less expensive than military charters. Hoyer won’t stay with Schiff after Denmark, instead traveling to Ukraine, Hungary, and Luxembourg on the military plane. It’s unclear how many lawmakers will accompany Hoyer.

A draft itinerary for Schiff’s trip said the California Democrat “will lead” his CODEL and warns the document “should not be made public without the explicit permission of the head of the delegation.”

An intelligence committee staffer attributed the military flight booking to Hoyer, saying Schiff is simply “joining” the Maryland Democrat. The staffer was unable to prove Hoyer requested the flight, but in a statement, Hoyer spokeswoman Mariel Saez said Hoyer's stops required the jet.

Hoyer will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and speak at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Luxembourg, as well as meet “with opposition leaders, civil society activists, and representatives from NGOs,” Saez said. “It is a packed schedule with a very tight timeframe, and it could only happen with military travel.”

Saez did not immediately say how many lawmakers will join Hoyer’s portion of the trip, and his precise itinerary was not shared with the Washington Examiner. Hoyer’s speech to the OSCE was announced weeks ago.

The itinerary for Schiff’s travel shows the Washington to Copenhagen flight includes three other Democratic House Intelligence Committee members — Denny Heck of Washington, Sean Maloney of New York, and Joaquin Castro of Texas — and two committee staffers. A fourth Democratic committee member, Terri Sewell of Alabama, will meet the group in Denmark. Three U.S Marine Corps escorts are also identified on the outbound flight, at least two of them following the Schiff group.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the use of a military plane, which will cost much more than commercial flights for the group.

President Trump, who is in Japan for the G-20 summit, canceled incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s military jet for a trip to Afghanistan, Egypt, and Brussels in January as the two clashed on border wall funds. Trump called it a “public relations event” and said, “Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative.”

Tom Fitton, president of the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, expressed skepticism about the initial leg of the trip. “It’s obviously cheaper to fly commercial. There’s no need to take a military plane to Copenhagen. It’s a perk and they’re abusing it," he said.

Schiff’s itinerary features a cocktail reception following his Friday speech, followed by a “no-host” happy hour on Saturday. On Sunday, the Schiff-led group will be joined by Sewell and fly commercial to Helsinki for an approximately 24-hour stay in Finland, where they will meet local officials and U.S. diplomats. On Monday, the group flies commercial to Oslo, Norway, for a two-night stay, with events including a tour and dinner at the ambassador’s residence.

A high-profile Trump enemy, Schiff will speak Friday at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit about “confronting the challenge to liberal democracies around the world" and “the appeal of authoritarianism.” Schiff identified Trump as such a threat in February, calling Trump a “deeply unethical president” uncommitted to “institutions of our democracy,” meaning “the threat to our democracy right now is most pronounced from within.”

Hoyer is scheduled to speak at 1:20 p.m. local time. Schiff, whose committee recently subpoenaed special counsel Robert Mueller, is up at 4:25 p.m. Both speeches will be streamed on Facebook, according to an event spokesman.

The precise military plane was not described in the itinerary, but there are four small jets based at Joint Base Andrews for executive branch or congressional use. The 12-passenger C-37A planes are modified Gulfstream jets and have a reimbursement rate of $8,227 per flight hour. A flight to Copenhagen would take about 8 hours, costing about $66,000 one way.

House business ends about 3 p.m . Thursday, but lawmakers would be able to arrive in Copenhagen in time if they flew commercial.

As of Wednesday, flight options included a Lufthansa flight departing at 6:15 p.m. and an Air France direct flight at 6:05 p.m., both of which depart Dulles International Airport, and both scheduled to land in Copenhagen at 11:20 a.m. local time, more than two hours before Hoyer’s speech and more than five hours before Schiff’s.

Both the Lufthansa and Air France flights ran about $2,300 per ticket on Wednesday afternoon, though it’s possible they would cost less if booked earlier. The five lawmakers traveling Thursday and two committee staff would have paid about $16,000 for last-minute commercial flights, saving about 76% of the cost of the presumed military plane.

The trip is likely to trigger a debate among watchdogs.

“Going for a speech and a couple trips with embassy staff does not sounds like a good use of taxpayer money,” said Tom Schatz of the nonpartisan Citizens Against Government Waste. He commented after being given an outline of the Schiff trip details, but without being told the identities of lawmakers.

Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said it's important to analyze the amount of official work being done, adding, “If you can get there commercially and it's safe to do so ... it's better for the taxpayers to save the money.”