Duffy Rebuts Ethics Attacks With $7 Million Campaign Cash Claims at Senate Hearing
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 20
Duffy Rebuts Ethics Attacks With $7 Million Campaign Cash Claims at Senate Hearing
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 20
Sean Duffy used a Senate hearing to answer ethics questions over his 10-state “Great American Road Trip” by accusing Democratic critics of taking industry money tied to committees they oversee.
Patty Murray and Kirsten Gillibrand said corporate donations to the nonprofit behind Duffy’s family trip and five-part YouTube series created influence concerns, citing sponsor perks that included logo placement in up to 10 videos and VIP event access.
Duffy denied sponsors were promised favors and fired back with specific figures, saying Murray took $102,000 from Pfizer and Gillibrand received $7 million from law firms and attorney groups.
Gillibrand rejected the comparison, saying the hearing was about Duffy and the administration, while Duffy defended the trip as an America 250-backed tourism effort meant to promote national unity.
The clash followed scrutiny that had already prompted calls for an inspector general investigation into whether companies regulated by the Transportation Department helped fund the project.
How does a family's all-expenses-paid road trip qualify as official business meant to serve the American public?
When corporate interests fund a secretary's family trip, where is the line between a public gift and a private conflict?