Democratic campaign committee spent major cash on private planes, travel ...70k in flowers

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on private flights, foreign travel, and office furniture, according to Federal Election Commission records, to include roughly $70,000 on flowers.

The New York Post reported Monday that in July, the DCCC spent $3,000 in flights on British Airways and Icelandair, according to records. And $15,571 was spent at EJCR LLC Dba Advanced Aviation Team, which leases private jets and was used often by Joe Biden’s presidential campaign last year.

Then the following month the organization, which is officially linked to the Democratic Party, spent $592,036 on furniture for their headquarters, according to FEC records. And since December, the DCCC has also spent more than $70,000 on flowers.

The expenditures may be concerning to some party members since the organization is charged with helping Democrats get elected to the House. And given the party’s narrow majority and tough fights ahead in the coming months, money is likely to be an issue.

Plus, many races may even be uphill battles; a survey by Punchbowl News found that more than three-of-four staffers on Capitol Hill think that Republicans are a shoo-in to win back the House during next year’s midterms.

“For being a political organization, the DCCC is failing politics 101 with horrible optics that clearly come from a high-maintenance leader,” one senior Democratic congressional staffer complained, The Post reported.

“You can’t run all these races and drop this money on flowers and jets. Do you want to get people elected or have really nice stuff?” the staffer added, according to the outlet.

“It’s not the first time New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the DCCC chairman, raised eyebrows for questionable spending. In June his committee spent $813 for an Air France flight just weeks before Maloney jetted off to Nice with his husband for a friend’s wedding,” The Post added.

Representatives for the DCCC said that the expense for the Air France flight did not go to pay for Maloney’s Nice ticket before going on to accuse The Post of being homophobic.

“The flights were for fundraisers earlier this month, including those in London and Geneva with Americans living abroad. The DCCC never covers any costs related to personal travel, or any other personal expenses for that matter,” DCCC spokesman Chris Hayden told the paper.

Republicans, meanwhile, were expressing confidence ahead of 2022 as well as glee at the Democratic division.

“Maloney knows deep down that House Democrats are headed for a historic loss next November as polls continue to plummet, maybe that’s why he is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations on flowers, office furniture, and European vacations,” Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the House’s No. 3 Republican, told the paper. “He knows the elitist days of Pelosi’s Democrat majority are numbered.”

In July, the National Republican Congressional Committee reported raising $45.4 million in the previous quarter, which was a record fundraising haul for the party, The Associated Press reported.

That compared to about $36.5 million for Democrats for the same period, which was the party’s best showing for the same period as well.

“We will take back the majority next fall and voters are doing everything they can to help us accomplish that goal,” NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer said in a statement. “Every vulnerable House Democrat should be eyeing the exits because if they choose to run, they will lose.”

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