McCarthy uses PAC to lavish cash on high-end resorts, private jets and fine dining

Leadership PACs are a dirty little secret in Washington. Politicians are not actually supposed to use them for personal expenses but this rule is being ignored. This is probably because the FEC has not historically enforced the personal use prohibition against leadership PACs. Well, this is one cookie jar, apparently, Kevin McCarthy couldn't resist getting his fingers into.

Do Dems do this, too? Probably, but I've not researched it. This was an article in the L.A. Times that was on page one. I will look into it, though.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-07/spending-by-kevin-mccarthys-leadership-pac

Rambling above the rust-colored cliffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the Terranea Resort is known for its ocean views, world-ranked spa and villas that can command $3,000 a night or more.

The property is less well known as a gathering spot for federal elected officials and the campaign donors they wine and dine.

But one politician was very familiar with the luxurious resort: former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. In 2 ½ years, the Bakersfield Republican’s election committees dropped nearly a quarter of a million dollars at Terranea, with most of the money coming from a thinly regulated leadership PAC, a Times investigation has found.

As he exits Congress two months after his historic ouster as speaker, political obituaries tout McCarthy’s skills as a prolific fundraiser on behalf of Republican candidates. Also setting him apart from other congressional leaders was his roughly decade-long pattern of using his Majority Committee PAC to spend lavishly on hotels, private jets and fine dining establishments, according to a Times analysis of campaign finance records on file with the Federal Election Commission.

From 2012 through last June, McCarthy’s PAC shelled out more than $1 million on hotels, private air travel and eateries, the FEC records show. That’s more than double the combined total spent by the leadership PACs of the seven other lawmakers who’ve held the top House and Senate positions for their parties during all or part of that period, according to the Times analysis.

Must be nice.



My friend, BING AI reports;

Yes, there have been instances where politicians from both parties have been reported to use their leadership PACs for personal expenses1. However, the specific names of the Democrats who might have done this are not mentioned in the sources I found. It’s important to note that the misuse of leadership PACs is not limited to any one party12.

The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Issue One have documented lawmakers’ repeated abuses of their leadership PACs3. They have urged the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to strengthen rules concerning lawmakers’ use of their leadership PACs for personal expenses1. A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Reps. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) proposed legislation to clarify that leadership PACs cannot be used for personal use4.
​

Have fun getting that through congress and the senate.