Conrad Burns – Poster Boy for a Culture of Corruption
This guy just makes it too easy: Montana Sen. Conrad Burns (news, bio, voting record), a Republican in a tight re-election race, flew on a private plane chartered by Vonage Holdings Corp. just days after he pushed legislation that the company has advocated for more than a year. Burns accompanied Vonage lobbyist Frank Cavaliere on […]
This guy just makes it too easy:
Montana Sen. Conrad Burns (news, bio, voting record), a Republican in a tight re-election race, flew on a private plane chartered by Vonage Holdings Corp. just days after he pushed legislation that the company has advocated for more than a year.
Burns accompanied Vonage lobbyist Frank Cavaliere on the company’s chartered plane to and from the “13th Annual Burns Classic Golf Weekend” in Bigfork, Mont., on Saturday. Cavaliere and a Burns spokesman both confirmed the plane trip to The Associated Press on Monday.
Campaign finance rules allow members of Congress to fly on corporate aircraft as long as they reimburse the company for the equivalent of first-class airfare. Jason Klindt, a spokesman for Burns, said the flight was arranged in August and the senator will reimburse the company.
The fundraiser was held two days after the Senate passed a Burns-sponsored amendment that was pushed in various forms by Vonage and several public safety groups. The amendment was added to a port security bill that the Senate approved 98-0 last Thursday.
