INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A Facebook page belonging to the wife of an Indiana congressman touted the family’s visit to the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, California, with photos showing the two children by the conservative icon’s grave and the couple in front of a “humble” wooden table where Reagan signed a massive tax cut.
Although a caption on one of the photos describes the trip as a “family vacation,” documents obtained by The Associated Press show Rep. Marlin Stutzman’s Senate campaign paid more than $2,000 for the four airline tickets to Los Angeles and covered expenses for a van rental and Hilton hotel room recorded during the August trip. Federal Election Commission guidelines forbid the use of an official campaign fund for personal expenses.
On Wednesday, Stutzman campaign manager Josh Kelley said the candidate repaid the campaign fund last week for the family’s portion of the trip after the AP began asking questions about it. Kelley said Stutzman was told last August by a campaign attorney that the trip was a “legitimate” campaign expense because Stutzman’s wife and children joined him at some political functions, but he decided to repay it “in the interests of full disclosure.”
The California visit represents just a small part of the over $300,000 in flights, vehicle charges, meals and hotel stays Stutzman’s campaign fund has spent since the tea party-backed Republican went to Washington in 2010 on a pledge to oppose special interests, an AP review found. That’s roughly three times more than Rep. Todd Young, his GOP Senate rival in the May 3 primary who joined the House about the same time.
Regarding the six-day California trip, Kelley declined to elaborate about the political events he said the family attended, other than to say some included donors and constituents. Kelley said the Hilton expense was incurred in Indianapolis the night before the California trip but provided no specifics.