Now Admits Failure To List Flights On Campaign Finance Reports
Less than four months ago – after it was revealed that liberal U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) had improperly billed taxpayers for political travel on her private plane while also failing to pay more than $300,000 in taxes on that aircraft – the embattled incumbent gave voters the impression that there were no other sordid details yet to emerge and even patted herself on the back for, as she put it, having “got the problem fixed very quickly.”
But as the St. Louis Beacon reported last Friday evening, McCaskill is now changing her story once again, scrambling to amend her campaign finance reports – some going back years – to account for flights she took on her personal aircraft which previously “had not been listed at all”:
…even her campaign staff acknowledges that more attention may be paid to dozens of amendments the senator also is filing to previous campaign reports, going back years… A handful of the amendments deal with an item that has plagued McCaskill for months: the plane that her family co-owns, and which — until recently — she has used for personal, political and official travel since she took office in 2007… McCaskill filed on Friday four amendments to old reports to include her personal payments for use of the plane for trips that a spokeswoman said were primarily personal but also included a political event… The trips, or aspects of them, needed to be listed on McCaskill’s reports as “in-kind contributions” that she made to her campaign. Previously, the trips had not been listed at all.
“Claire McCaskill promised Missourians they had seen the last of her ethics problems after she cheated on her taxes and improperly billed taxpayers for campaign travel on her private plane, but now she’s changing her story yet again,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond. “Can Missourians trust a word McCaskill says?”
Notably, though McCaskill claims neither she nor her family profited from her decision to bill taxpayers for travel on her private aircraft, she still refuses to simply open the tax records for Timesaver LLC, her Delaware-based shell company that she used to conduct the transactions.
And despite her promise to “sell the damn plane,” the aircraft is still registered to Timesaver LLC and has not been sold – and McCaskill has provided no evidence that she is even seriously attempting to divest herself of her private aircraft.
AIR CLAIRE TIMELINE
2004 – McCaskill attacked her opponent in the Democrat primary for Governor for using taxpayer dollars to fly around on a private airplane. (David Catanese, “McCaskill Attacked Plane Use In ‘04 Campaign,” Politco’s David Catanese Blog, www.politico.com, Posted 3/21/11)
July 2006 – Timesaver LLC is incorporated in Delaware by Joe Shepard as an “aircraft dry lessor.” (Scott Wong & John Bresnahan, “Claire McCaskill To Pay Back Taxes On Plane,” Politico, 3/21/11)
September 2006 – McCaskill ran an ad in her Senate race where she looks into the camera and says: “we have paid every dime of our taxes.” (Ben Smith, “An Ad McCaskill Won’t Run Again,” Politico’s Ben Smith Blog, www.politico.com, Posted 3/22/11)
2007 – McCaskill charges taxpayers $25,000 in her first year in the Senate for flights on her private airplane. (Report Of The Secretary Of The Senate, Expenditures For Office Of Senator Claire McCaskill, 1/1/07 — 1/1/08)
May 2008 – McCaskill’s 2007 personal financial disclosure is filed and shows between $50,000 and $100,000 in rental income from Timesaver LLC. (Office Of The Secretary Of The Senate, Personal Financial Disclosure For Claire McCaskill, 5/15/08)
January 2010 – McCaskill Said “I’m A Former Auditor. I Care Very Much About How We Spend The Public’s Money.” MCCASKILL: “Well, this has been a lonely fight. I came to the Senate in 2007 and immediately saw how screwed up the process of earmarking was and said, I’m not going to participate. I’m a former auditor. I care very much about how we spend the public’s money.” (Fox News’ “On The Record With Greta Van Susteren,” 11/17/10)
February 2011 – McCaskill co-sponsors senate legislation that would fire federal employees if they are ‘seriously delinquent’ in paying their own federal taxes. (Scott Wong & John Bresnahan, “Claire McCaskill To Pay Back Taxes On Plane,” Politico, 3/21/11)
March 9, 2011 – McCaskill announces she will return $88,000 to the U.S. Treasury after reporters questioned why she was using taxpayer dollars to pay for travel on her private aircraft. (Scott Wong and John Bresnahan, “McCaskill To Return $88K To Treasury,” Politico, 3/9/11)
· McCaskill Only Made The Payment For The Flights After The Press Discovered The Scandal. “McCaskill paid the Treasury Department more than $88,000 after POLITICO first reported she had used taxpayer dollars to pay for nearly 90 flights on a private charter plane co-owned by McCaskill, her husband and other investors.” (Ben Smith, “McCaskill Plane Woes Deepen,” Politico’s Ben Smith Blog, www.politico.com, Posted 3/21/11)
March 9, 2011 – McCaskill’s spokeswoman says that neither McCaskill nor her family has profited off of the plane. (Scott Wong and John Bresnahan, “McCaskill To Return $88K To Treasury,” Politico, 3/9/11)
March 9, 2011 – “McCaskill’s Office Said All The Flights Were Legal And Followed Senate Ethics Rules.” (Scott Wong and John Bresnahan, “McCaskill To Return $88K To Treasury,” Politico, 3/9/11)
March 10, 2011 – It is discovered that one of McCaskill’s flights she billed taxpayers was purely political in nature - A violation of Senate ethics rules. (Ben Smith, “Exclusive: McCaskill Billed, Repaid Taxpayers For Political Flights,” Politico’s Ben Smith Blog, www.politico.com, Posted 3/10/11)
- “On Saturday, March 3, 2007 She Flew From St. Louis To Hannibal, MO, And Back, For The Local Democratic Party’s Annual Hannibal Days.” (Ben Smith, “Exclusive: McCaskill Billed, Repaid Taxpayers For Political Flights,” Politico’s Ben Smith Blog, www.politico.com, Posted 3/10/11)
March 16, 2011 – McCaskill holds a press conference call where she argues that it is critical for information to be a public record when taxpayer money is involved: “The payments were a public record. This was all out in the bright sunshine for anyone to see. And so, that’s a good thing. . . . The key is, if public dollars are involved, it needs to be transparent.” (Senator Claire McCaskill Radio Conference Call, 3/16/11)
March 21, 2011 – McCaskill announces that she failed to pay over $287,000 in taxes on the airplane. (Yael T. Abouhalkah, “McCaskill’s Credibility Crashes And Burns,” The Kansas City Star, 3/21/11)
March 21, 2011 – McCaskill said her family would sell the plane. “I have convinced my husband to sell the damn plane,” she [McCaskill] said Monday. “He has hired a broker. And I will never step foot on the plane again.” (Malia Rulon, “McCaskill Didn’t Pay $287,000 In Taxes On Private Plane,” Springfield News-Leader, 3/21/11)
March 23, 2011 – It is announced that McCaskill’s delinquent tax bill is actually over $320,000. (Jake Wagman, “McCaskill’s Final Airplane Bill Could Include $80,000 In Interest,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3/23/11)
March 24, 2011 – The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that six Rockwood middle school teachers, 10 counselors and four driver education teachers will need to be fired because of budget shortfalls. (Elizabethe Holland, “Illinois Teachers Feeling The Pinch Of Layoffs,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3/24/11)
March 24, 2011 – It is reported the Rockwood School District will receive over $175,000 when McCaskill pays her delinquent taxes. (Phil Sutin, “Rockwood School District to benefit from McCaskill’s paying tax on plane,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, 3/24/11)
March 25, 2011 – McCaskill is asked whether she will release the taxes for Sunset Cove and Timesaver and says “I understand the point you are making and it is a point that is made around here too.” (McCaskill Radio Interview, “Allman In The Morning,” Channel 97, 3/25/11)
March 28, 2011: McCaskill Said She “Got The Problem Fixed Very Quickly.” “‘I found the problem, I owned the problem and I got the problem fixed very quickly,’ she said. ‘There are a lot of people I could blame for this, but I know better.’” (A. G. Sulzberger, “For A Missouri Senator, Comeuppance Comes With Wings And A Big Tax Bill,” The New York Times, 3/28/11)
7:15 PM On Friday, July 15, 2011 – St. Louis Beacon reported McCaskill filed amendments to old finance reports to include trips that should have originally been reported as in-kind contributions to her campaign, but were not reported. McCaskill’s campaign spokeswoman said this was “simply a matter of tying up loose ends . . . .” (Jo Mannies, “McCaskill Files Barrage Of Finance Amendments Along With New Campaign Tallies,” St. Louis Beacon, 7/15/11)
July 18, 2011 – McCaskill’s Plane Is Still Registered To Timesaver LLC And Has Not Been Sold. (FAA Website, http://registry.faa.gov, Accessed 7/18/11; Jo Mannies, “McCaskill Files Barrage Of Finance Amendments Along With New Campaign Tallies,” St. Louis Beacon, 7/15/11)
