Democrats demand Pence pay back costs of traveling to NFL game

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http://thehill.com/homenews/house/356275-democrats-demand-pence-pay-back-costs-of-traveling-to-nfl-game

Democrats demand Pence pay back costs of traveling to NFL game
By Cristina Marcos - 10/19/17 04:01 PM EDT


A group of House Democrats on Thursday urged Vice President Pence to reimburse taxpayers the cost of his travel this month to Indianapolis for an NFL game he abruptly left after players kneeled during the national anthem.

In a letter to Pence, five House Democrats demanded the vice president pay back the expenses of attending the game, where the Indianapolis Colts faced off against the San Francisco 49ers.

A CNN report estimated that Pence’s travel to and from Indiana cost taxpayers about $242,500, which doesn’t include the cost of Secret Service or advance staff. The Democratic lawmakers asked that Pence make clear exactly how much public funds were spent on the trip.

“Flying across the country and back at taxpayer expense simply to enter and then immediately depart a football stadium serves no discernible public interest,” Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Ted Lieu (Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Brendan Boyle (Pa.) and Jamie Raskin (Md.) wrote.

“Instead, the fact that your campaign immediately sought to capitalize on this exercise in order to solicit donations leaves the distinct impression that this trip was purely political in nature and was unrelated to your official duties."

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