Report: Toomey Failed to Disclose Resort Trip

The Center for Public Integrity reports: “After a conservative think tank paid for travel, lodging and food expenses for Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., during its multi-day, “off-the-record” summit at a luxury resort in Georgia, he was supposed to file paperwork with the Senate Office of Public Records detailing the costs. Now, after questions from the Center for Public Integrity, Toomey’s office has submitted a tardy filing about the trip, which the American Enterprise Institute sponsored.”

Senate rules require Toomey to file the report within 30 daysof the trip, which he failed to do. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Senate rules do not prohibit members from accepting free trips, so long as they’re not paid for by lobbyists or foreign governments. So Toomey, essentially, faces public trouble for accepting a free expensive trip — a problem that wouldn’t have occurred had he simply obeyed campaign reporting rules in a timely fashion. Sound familiar?  It’s never the obvious stuff that trips you up in campaign ethics; it’s reporting it that seems to be tricky. Wonder why that is?