Politicians' private-jet use raises questions

[question everything]

Politicians' private-jet use raises questions

Cunningham among those who flew on tiny S.D. air carrier
By Dean Calbreath
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

August 5, 2005

San Diego's Group W Transportation is a private air carrier so small that until recently its entire fleet consisted of a one-16th ownership stake in a Lear jet.

Yet Group W, owned by Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes, has provided personal air transportation for some high-profile passengers – including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who has flown on the jet to such locations as Idaho for a hunting trip and Hawaii for a golf tournament.

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Although members of Congress are permitted to take all-expense-paid travel related to their legislative work, they are required to disclose the trips within 30 days. Members of Congress cannot take free trips for campaign activities. Campaign laws require candidates to pay the equivalent of first-class commercial air fare when flying aboard corporate jets. However, since private jet travel is far more expensive than commercial air fare, politicians who comply with the law are getting an expensive gift from the company that owns the jet.

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ADCS, a private company in Poway that specializes in converting paper records into computer records, has received tens of millions of dollars in military contracts since 1996. Over the past eight years, the defense appropriations subcommittee has repeatedly added funding for ADCS-related projects to the Defense Department budget, even criticizing the Pentagon for not requesting the money itself.

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During one weekend campaign swing in July 2003, DeLay used at least a quarter of Group W's 50-hour annual allotment on the jet. DeLay flew the Group W jet from Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., to John Wayne Airport in Orange County to appear at a campaign dinner for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach. When the dinner was over, DeLay flew from Orange County to Seattle, where he appeared at a campaign event for then-Rep. Jennifer Dunn. Once that event ended, DeLay used the Group W jet to fly back to Washington, D.C.

The DeLay, Rohrabacher and Dunn campaigns, which jointly funded the trip, paid Group W a total of $3,057 – about what DeLay would have paid for a single hour on the jet, if he were paying for it on his own.

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Dean Calbreath: [phone]; [e-mail]

Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20050805-9999-1n5duke.html

[napi21]

1. I suppose there might be a problem there, but

If Group W provided a quote, invoice, or something like that to the campaigns, it would require more investigation to prove if that was a special rate to only DeLay, or if it's their normal and customary rates. That kind of stuff is tricky. If Group W consistently gives certain rates to all "candidate related customers" I'd bet they could get off saying that is their customary rate.

If you're only talking about this trip, it's probably not worth the effort. If it's a consistent and repetative event, well, then...maybe.