WP: Former Bush Adviser Agrees to Pay for Trips

[kskiska]

Tuesday, July 11, 2006; A15

A former senior adviser to President Bush on health-care issues has agreed to pay nearly $10,000 to settle a dispute over whether he improperly billed the government for trips that he took while he was considering jobs in the private sector.

(snip)

According to the settlement agreement, the travel represented an inappropriate mingling of Scully's government work and his private job search. Scully, however, said in a statement, "I never did anything inappropriate," adding that he was agreeing to reimburse the government for disputed trips in order to avoid costlier litigation.

(snip)

The trips cited in the settlement agreement took place during the six months before Scully left the government. According to the agreement, he sought and received reimbursement of $26.84 for parking and mileage to an appointment with a D.C. law firm that he said was 19 miles from his office, although it actually was two miles away.

In addition, the settlement agreement says Scully improperly billed the government for a trip to Atlanta, where he held what the agreement calls "a perfunctory meeting" with employees of a regional CMS office and met with representatives of Alston & Bird, his future employer. The agreement cites similar trips to Santa Barbara, Calif., and Boston, in which Scully engaged in both government work and discussions about potential private employment.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/10/AR2006071001011.html

[rodeodance]

1. seems to me he tried to get what he could--simple as that!

[NYC]

2. Doesn't really sound so shady.

...Scully engaged in both government work and discussions about potential private employment...