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It would appear as though FBI Director Christopher Wray spilled the beans on himself.
Amid questioning during a Senate Judiciary hearing, Wray had to leave in what he made out to be an urgent matter.
As it turns out, it was to take the FBI plane to his vacation home, far more important than matters of national security.
Now the Senators want to know if he is paying the government back for those flights or hitting taxpayers with the tab.
Flying Private
So, once again, we not only have a high-profile administration official traveling private, but doing so on a government plane and possibly not paying taxpayers back.
During the hearing last week, Senator Grassley (R-IA) asked Wray, “We just heard a half hour ago about you having to leave at 1:30… Is there any reason we couldn’t accommodate them for 21 minutes?”
Wray responded, “Senator, I had a flight that I’m supposed to be high-tailing it to outta here, and I had understood that we were going to be done at 1:30, so that’s how we ended up where we are.”
That flight, as noted above, was not an urgent flight, but a flight to his vacation home.
Now House Republicans are asking for answers.
Rep. Elise Stefanik led a group of Republicans demanding to know why he was using the FBI Gulfstream for private flights.
The letter of inquiry states, “We write to conduct oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) use of Government aircraft and compliance with the applicable Federal regulations and requirements.
“We have questions about whether you are properly reimbursing federal taxpayers for your personal travel aboard government aircraft.”
It continues, “You reportedly departed on the FBI’s Gulfstream 550 jet, an agency aircraft initially intended for counterterrorism use, to make the one hour and 12-minute journey to Saranac Lake. Further, it has been reported that you made a similar personal trip on a government aircraft on June 2 and June 5, 2022.
“Although certain federal officials are permitted to use government aircraft for personal or political use, these expenses must be reimbursed.
“According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), past FBI directors have used government aircraft for personal use as is permissible.
“These former officials reimbursed federal taxpayers at the commercial rate, which can be thousands of dollars less than the actual cost of operating the government aircraft.
“Reimbursement payments for personal travel are made to the FBI Finance Division, which in turn deposits the funds to the Department of the Treasury,”
I cannot help but wonder why he would not fly commercial for a vacation, you know, with climate change and all that.
The FBI has not yet responded to the letter.
