GOP congressman spent $70K in campaign cash on meals
Source: Politico
Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio has used donors' cash for 370 food-related expenditures since 2017.
By ALLY MUTNICK
09/08/2020 07:20 PM EDT
Dinners at international sushi bars, steakhouses and a wine boutique. A $220 meal in London. A $300 meal in a posh hotel in Belgium on Boxing Day.
Rep. Mike Turner has used campaign funds for hundreds of trips to restaurants and occasionally to stay at lavish hotels according to a POLITICO analysis of the Ohio Republicans campaign-finance filings over the past 3½ years.
He has spent over $70,000 from his campaign account since 2017 to fund meals at some 370 meetings. The individual receipts are fairly modest in most cases typically ranging from $12 to a few hundred dollars. But together, ethics watchdogs say, they suggest a consistent pattern: Turner uses his donors to subsidize his personal dining costs, expensing an average of two meals a week.
Turner, a nine-term member who represents southwestern Ohio, is already facing increased scrutiny as he prepares for what might be his toughest reelection campaign since he was first elected in 2002. House Democrats are targeting his district, which President Donald Trump carried by 7 points in 2016, and he was outraised last quarter by his Democratic opponent, Desiree Tims.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/08/mike-turner-campaign-money-meals-410344
Rep. Mike Turner
bluecollar2
(3,622 posts)TruckFump
(5,812 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,527 posts)DFW
(54,370 posts)For meals in England and Belgium? Just what donors was he courting in England and Belgium? Or was it just that he didn't want a Russian entry stamp in his passport during an election, and decided to meet his masters on neutral ground?
DeminPennswoods
(15,286 posts)who contributed to his campaign. Hope they liked treating Turner to a meal or two.
Vinca
(50,269 posts)JohnnyRingo
(18,628 posts)There's your campaign chant Desiree.
NCjack
(10,279 posts)not accept any meetings with lobbyists in exchange for anything of value.
The Repuke congress critters are hogs at the trough. Better he put the costs on his supporters.
MissMillie
(38,553 posts)Our household spends $300/month on food--including food for our 4 pets.
If I were making donations to candidates (something I obviously can't afford to to) I wouldn't want to hear that the candidate were throwing my money around like this.