Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-CA) congressional campaign reportedly continued his spending habits by racking up nearly $60,000 on travel expenses on trips to Miami Beach, Florida, and Paris, France.
In fact, the campaign’s $57,094 spending spree on travel expenses between April 1 and May 18 is only $10,000 less than the median household salary for Americans in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Swalwell campaign — which only has two official staffers — used the thousand in cash to pay for swanky hotel and airfare. The campaign spent $4,708 at Loews Miami Beach, where rooms range between $400 and $3,700 per night, according to Fox News. There was also $1,752 spent at the five-star La Maison Champs-Elysées Hotel in Paris, France, where rooms range from roughly $1,000 and $1,200 per night.
Fox News noted that the luxury hotels are “nowhere near his district,” meaning the campaign would have to dole out cash for airlines. The Swalwell campaign spent $13,312 to pay for flights on United Airlines, as well as $7,815 on American Airlines and $1,300 on Alaska Airlines.
Furthermore, the congressman dished out nearly $6,000 to embrace his luxury limo obsession, as well as $1,452 on Lyft rides and $1,055 on Uber rides, according to his campaign’s disclosures. Fox News noted that all of his travel expenses added up to be more than both the combined expenses for “communications consulting” and “fundraising services.”
It was reported last year that Swalwell spent thousands in campaign cash on alcohol and limousine services, in addition to over $20,000 at the same luxury hotel at which his wife works.
As Breitbart News wrote:
Swalwell’s campaign paid for the Californian’s 26 rides that he took in various limousine and luxury car services costing upwards of $10,000. Additionally, there was also the $26,000 that was spent on luxury hotels. According to the report, over $20,000 in funds from the campaign were spent at the Ritz Carlton and Half Moon Bay, where his wife happens to be the director of sales. Her LinkedIn profile shows that she’s worked at the company since February 2015.
The report noted that Swalwell also spent $566 on “Food & Beverage,” through the delivery service Drizly, which is a “platform that facilitates the delivery of alcohol.” This was done in nine separate orders ranging with a wide range from $5.79 to $124.86.
Swalwell, still in the second quarter, also spent $1,151 on “Refreshments” from Capitol Hill Wine and Spirits, which he did in seven trips. The liquor store is local to the House side of the U.S. Capitol and is roughly a nine-minute walk from his office. The report showed the campaign spent almost $4,400 for “Catering” and “Refreshments” at two California wineries on the same day.
Additionally, just last month, the California Democrat’s lawyer asked the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to allow the Swalwell, as a “well-known member of Congress,” to use donations to his congressional campaign to afford babysitters for his three children while he is on foreign government-sponsored business trips for his taxpayer-funded job.
The congressman’s campaign lawyer argued that his status as a “well-known member of Congress” and a “prolific fundraiser” has gotten him “many invitations” to go to events, “including invitations from foreign governments for information gathering visits,” which means he would be gone on overnight trips.
If the FEC expanded its rule, allowing candidates to spend campaign cash on “overnight childcare,” it would be a “perk” that is not available to more working Americans who are forced to pay for childcare out of pocket.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/06/07/report-democrat-eric-swalwells-campaign-spends-nearly-60k-on-travel-in-miami-paris/