A Government Accountability Office report reveals that the Justice Department has spent $11.4 million to fly the Attorney General and FBI director on FBI luxury jets for travel unrelated to the agency’s mission.
Iowa Republican and ranking judiciary committee member Sen. Chuck Grassley — who requested GAO look into Justice Department aircraft being used to for “nonmission” reasons — released the report Thursday.
“These luxury jets were supposedly needed for counterterrorism, but it turns out that they were used almost two-thirds of the time for jet-setting executive travel instead,” Grassley said. “Nobody disputes that the Attorney General and the FBI Director should have access to the secure communications, but, for instance, there’s no reason they can’t take a less expensive mode of transportation, or cut their personal travel.”
The GAO looked at nonmission jet use from 2007-2011. In that timeframe, the report explains, the “three individuals who served as Attorney General (AG) and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accounted for 95 percent (659 out of 697 flights) of all Department of Justice (DOJ) executive nonmission flights using DOJ aircraft at a total cost of $11.4 million.”
According to the report, personal flights accounted for 24 percent of nonmission flights and that the AGs and FBI director reimbursed that travel “in accordance with federal requirements.” Yet, as the report notes, that reimbursement “is generally less than the cost of operating a government aircraft” as it is largely reimbursed at the cost of a commercial rate.
Additionally, the GAO report revealed that over those five years DOJ spent $1.5 million to fly jets several miles from “an undisclosed location in the Washington area” to Reagan National Airport to pick up the Attorney General and FBI director Robert Mueller. The report notes that the FBI considers these “positioning flights to be necessary” because the location is “covert.”
“The taxpayers expect some discretion on this type of thing. I’m really interested in how the Attorney General can claim that federal law enforcement agents will be cut, knowing that over the last 5 years the Department has allowed for millions of dollars to be spent on personal travel. It’s ludicrous,” Grassley added. “The hypocrisy from the administration when they say that ‘the cuts apply to you, but not to me’ is hard to believe.”
Attorney General Eric Holder told ABC News on Wednesday that the mandatory budget cuts set to take effect at the end of the week as a result of sequestration will make Americans less safe.
“This is something that is going to have an impact on the safety of this country,” Holder told ABC News.
“The Justice Department is going to lose nine percent of its budget between now and September 30th. We’re going to lose $1.6 billion. There are not going to be as many FBI agents, ATF agents, DEA agents, prosecutors who are going to be able to do their jobs,” he added. “They’re going to be furloughed. They’re going to spend time out of their offices, not doing their jobs.”
As the report explains, until 2011 the FBI director had the option to travel commercially, while the Attorney General has “historically” had to use government aircraft for all travel.
The GAO audit was conducted from March 2012 to Feb 2013.
Update: In a joint statement issued after publication the FBI and Justice Department stressed that the number one priority for their aircraft is counterterrorism and weapons of mass destruction operations. They noted that the GAO report “confirms that the Department of Justice always adheres to these priorities in scheduling use of its aircraft”
“The report also makes clear that the overwhelming majority of travel by recent Attorneys General and the Director – although termed ‘non mission’ travel by the report – has been for official business travel in furtherance of the Department’s national security and public safety mission,” their statement adds. “The Department’s national security mission necessitates the communications and range capabilities of the Department’s Gulfstream V aircraft, which are essential for certain overseas operations.”