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Somewhere, Madame Minority Leader Weeps...
Pelosi used the Air Force aircraft for a total of 43 trips, covering 90,155 miles, from January 1 through October 1, 2010. The Air Force documented in-flight expenses for 22 of these flights totaling $1,821.33. The Air Force did not provide expense information for the remaining 21 flights.Former Speaker Pelosi received chocolate covered strawberries as a birthday surprise on a March 26, 2010 flight. According to one internal Air Force email sent on March 25, 2010: "The speaker's office is requesting egg salad sandwiches on wheat toast with fruit (watermelon, etc) for desert [sic]. It's the speaker's B-Day tomorrow so we're also asking for something like chocolate covered strawberries (dark chocolate preferred)..." The immediate response to the email from another member of the Air Force staff: "Copy all. We'll plan something for the birthday and take care of the meal." Let 'em eat chocolate covered strawberries (dark chocolate preferred)... According to previous documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the former Speaker's military travel cost the United States Air Force $2,100,744.59 over one two-year period -- $101,429.14 of which was for in-flight expenses, including food and alcohol. For example, purchases for one Pelosi-led congressional delegation traveling from Washington, DC, through Tel Aviv, Israel to Baghdad, Iraq May 15-20, 2008, included: Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Baileys Irish Cream, Maker's Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewar's scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniel's whiskey, Corona beer and several bottles of wine. "For the children", no doubt... Judicial Watch also previously uncovered internal Department of Defense (DOD) email correspondence detailing attempts by DOD staff to accommodate Pelosi's numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft as well as the speaker's last minute cancellations and changes. For example, in response to a series of requests for military aircraft, one DOD official wrote, "Any chance of politely querying [Pelosi's team] if they really intend to do all of these or are they just picking every weekend?...[T]here's no need to block every weekend 'just in case'..." The email also notes that Pelosi's office had, "a history of canceling many of their past requests." Posted by: tu3031 2011-01-29 |
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