Nancy Pelosi Abuses Military Aircraft Privileges

Judicial Watch, a public interest group that investigates government corruption, has obtained documents detailing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's unprecedented requests for military air travel, last minute cancellations, and disregard for agency policy. The documents were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act from the Department of Defense.

One document details a discussion of House Ethics rules and Defense Department policies relating to the speaker's requests for staff, spouses and extended family to accompany her on military aircraft. In May 2008 Pelosi requested that her husband join her on a Congressional Delegation into Iraq. The Department of Defense had to explain to Pelosi that the agency has a written policy prohibiting a spouse from accompanying her into combat zones.

In response to Pelosi's multiple requests for military aircraft, one Defense Department 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?" The email also states that Pelosi's office had, "a history of canceling many of their past requests."

Another Department of Defense official complained about the hidden costs associated with Pelosi's last minute changes and cancellations. "We have folks prepping the jets and crews driving in, cooking meals and preflighting the jets."

Pelosi's staff also demanded certain aircraft be available to the speaker and expressed outrage when the planes were not available. Kay King, Director of the House Office of Interparliamentary Affairs wrote, "It is my understanding there are no G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable. The speaker will want to know where the planes are."

In 2007 Pelosi requested a 42-seat Air Force carrier to fly her and her staff back and forth between San Francisco, CA and Washington, DC. In comparison, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was only allowed access to a 12-seat commuter jet for security reasons after 9/11.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said, "Taken together, these documents show that Speaker Pelosi treats the Air Force like her personal airline. Not only does Speaker Pelosi issue unreasonable requests for military travel, but her office seems unconcerned about wasting taxpayer money with last minute cancellations and other demands."

Fiscal responsibility in action? Apparently Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi thinks so.

Sources:
Judicial Watch, Judicial Watch Uncovers Documents Detailing Pelosi's Repeated Requests for Military Travel, judicialwatch.org