An Obituary: The $16 Muffin Myth (9/20/11 - 10/28/11) - RIP Muffin Myth

[Tx4obama]

An Obituary: The $16 Muffin Myth (9/20/11 - 10/28/11)

October 28, 2011: The day the muffin myth died.

The $16 muffin myth, 38 days old, had a short but eventful life. Conceived by mistake due to a misreading of incomplete expenditure information from an August 2009 conference at the Capital Hilton in D.C., the $16 muffin was born in a Justice Department Inspector General report on September 20, 2011.

The $16 muffin myth, or “Muffingate” as it was known, was quick to make friends, especially since it was born at just the right time. Thanks to conservatives like Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) talking it up, “$16 muffins” was plastered all over the Internet and Bill O’Reilly even mentioned it on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

SNIP

On Sept. 23, the Capitol Hilton said the $16 muffins didn’t really exist. The next day, DOJ said it was “clear that the muffins did not cost $16.” The $16 muffin myth was further weakened once the Inspector General came out with a statement saying that the $16 wasn’t for just muffins but rather included “other food and beverage items, such as coffee, tea, and fruit, were included in the charged amount.”

Finally on Friday afternoon, October 28, just after 2 p.m., the DOJ’s Inspector General said they wished the $16 muffin myth has never even been born.

SNIP

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/muffingate_the_day_the_16_dollar_muffin_myth_died.php?ref=fpb

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$16 mufffins didn't exist, according to inspector general

There will be no more huffin' and puffin' about that $16 muffin.

On Friday, the Justice Department inspector general apologized for claiming in a recent report that taxpayers had paid $16 per muffin at a recent department conference. The IG admitted now that such muffins never existed.

In September, an IG audit said the department shelled out $490,000 at 10 events alone from Oct. 2007 to Sept. 2009 — and spent a chunk of cash on the infamous $16 muffins.

But Friday the IG said it had obtained “additional documents and information” following the report’s publication in September. After reviewing the data and working with the Capital Hilton hotel — the site of the conference in question — the IG wrote in its revised report that “we determined that our initial conclusions concerning the itemized costs of refreshments at the EOIR conference were incorrect and that the department did not pay $16 per muffin.”

SNIP

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67100.html

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