There’s a stereotype that all politicians are crooked and surrounded by scandal. No one tries to prove that stereotype true more than the Biden administration.
And a major tax scandal could prove to be the nail in the coffin for this Biden official.
President Joe Biden is not a good judge of talent.
Practically every member of his administration has worked to leave the country in worse shape than before they entered office.
Whether that’s incidental or not is yet to be seen, but it’s true that the Biden administration is deeply flawed.
One of those officials in the president’s administration who has done less than a stellar job is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
His mishandling of multiple crises over the years have left Americans frustrated.
And now he’s facing yet another crisis, this time relating to government officials questioning his use of taxpayer funds.
According to the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Office of Inspector General (OIG), Buttigieg, along with members of his staff, spent almost $59,000 in taxpayer funds to use government jets to travel to events.
The events were official in nature and the use of the jets occurred between August 2021 and June 2023, according to the OIG’s audit which was released last week.
The DOT claims that the use of the planes actually saved money for taxpayers.
However, the audit found that “cost-effectiveness” only applied to three of trips that Buttigieg took. Other trips were deemed justifiable because of concerns over security, communications, and scheduling.
“Ensuring that Federal officials, including career personnel and political appointees, adhere to Federal requirements regarding the proper use of public resources is essential to maintaining public trust and confidence,” the DOT’s OIG report said.
“The Department has internal controls over the process to authorize and approve travel on official use of DOT aircraft, such as requiring legal review and approval of all aircraft use justifications, and has implemented new ones, such as expanded voucher audit criteria, to help ensure process standardization,” the reported continued.
“Continued oversight in this area is important to maintain transparency and accountability for Federal Funds.”
Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director for Americans for Public Trust, told Fox News Digital that the DOT has been incorrect in how they estimate flight costs to justify Buttigieg’s use of government jets.
“In this holiday news dump, the Inspector General admits that the Department of Transportation has been using incorrect flight cost estimates to justify Secretary Buttigieg’s use of a taxpayer-funded private jet,” Sutherland said.
“After stonewalling the release of records for over a year, the Biden administration will try to say Buttigieg is in the clear, but Americans will see through this thinly veiled attempt to exonerate the Secretary.”
“Travelers are spending their hard-earned money and countless hours on flights to see loved ones this holiday season. As they sit on the tarmac, they’ll have plenty of time to wonder why they’re paying for their own commercial flights and Buttigieg’s private flights, too.”
Yet another example of Pete Buttigieg and his office being completely out of touch with Americans, just like President Biden himself.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
