Harpers: Weldon Blew $80K in Campaign Funds on Restaurant Meals

[Rose Siding]

Representative Curt Weldon Dines Out on His Campaign Fund
Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006. By Ken Silverstein.

SourcesWe recently reported that friends and relatives of GOP congressman Curt Weldon of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, have an easier time than the average person finding a job. We've subsequently done further research, and it turns out that Weldon—who was elected to Congress in 1987 and currently serves as Vice Chairman of both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee—seems to have an expansive view regarding the use of his campaign funds.

Over the past eight years, Weldon has spent about $80,000 of campaign treasury funds—donated money that congressional ethics rules say should be used for “bona fide campaign or political purposes”—on restaurant meals. His dining choices range from high-end establishments like The Monocle, a Capitol Hill restaurant popular with lawmakers and lobbyists, to the humble Cracker Barrel. During the same period Weldon also dropped about $30,000 on hotels.

Take January 3, 1999: less than two months after winning reelection with 72 percent of the vote and 22 months away from his next election, Weldon spent $435.39 in campaign funds at the Capitol Grille in Washington. (The Grille’s website bears the slogan: “Remind yourself why you work so hard.”) Then, during the summer and early fall of 1999, still more than a year from election day, Weldon put down $400 of campaign funds on five meals in Wildwood, New Jersey, where he then owned a beach house. Three of those meals were on the weekend.

http://harpers.org/sb-weldon-followup-9189398.html

[Erika]

1. He likes living good, doesn't he?

$400 on 5 meals? $30,000 on hotels. He likes living high. But that's the elitist GOP.