White House Staff Travels Paid for by Outside Interests

An article in the July 10, 2006 issue of Newsweek discusses travel by White House staff members paid for by outside interests. According to the article, filings with the Office of Government Ethics show that White House staff have accepted free trips from dozens of organizations including the National Association of Manufacturers, Southern Baptist Convention, Federalist Society, and Focus on the Family. Karl Rove's $2,600 trip to Aspen in September 2004 was picked up by financier Ted Forstmann; Al Hubbard, sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute, also visited Colorado in June 2005 at a cost of $4,276. The most frequent traveler, Tim Goeglein, made frequent trips to his hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Looking at the most recent semiannual report of filings from the White House to the Office of Government Ethics, which covers six months of travel from October 2005 through March 2006, we find Tim Goeglein again accepting the most trips. Of his thirteen trips totalling $9,171.06, four are sponsored by organizations in Indiana including Allen County Right to Life, the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, and the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. Backers of additional White House staff travel include the Alliance Defense Fund, American Spectator Magazine, Catholic Charities of Maine, Catholic Men's Fellowship, Congregation B'nai Torah of Indianapolis, Congregation Kahilath Jeshurun of New York City, Consumer Electronics Association, Federalist Society, National Endowment of the Arts, National Religious Broadcasters, and National Review.