Whitmer transition fund paid for her private jet to attend Biden's inauguration: report
Whitmer is already facing scrutiny for using the transition fund to charter a private plane to Florida
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's transition fund paid for a private jet she took to attend President Biden's inauguration in January, according to a new report.
Whitmer is already facing scrutiny for using the transition to pay for the vast majority of her trip to Florida – a trip she initially lied about taking.
DEM GOVERNORS WHITMER, MURPHY FLOUT OWN CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS TO ATTEND BIDEN INAUGURATION
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michigan journalist Charlie LeDuff reported during the Friday episode of his radio show, No BS Newshour, that the Michigan Transition 2019 fund also used nearly $21,000 – labeled as a "gift" by the fund – to charter a plane for the governor to attend Biden’s inauguration with her family in Washington, DC.
LeDuff noted that the Michigan Transition 2019 filings page was "dark for years" until the reports of Whitmer’s trip to the Sunshine State against her own travel advisories.
It is unclear if the plane Whitmer reportedly chartered in January is the same as the plane she chartered through Michigan air company AirEagle, LLC to fly to visit her father in Florida.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WHITMER HIT WITH ETHICS COMPLAINT OVER CONTROVERSIAL PRIVATE FLA. FLIGHT
Whitmer's office did not immediately return Fox News’ request for comment on LeDuff’s report.
Michigan Republican Party communications director Ted Goodman told Fox News that Whitmer's actions are showing Michiganders her true colors.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Governor Whitmer, through her actions, is sending a message to Michiganders that she gets to play by a different set of rules," Goodman said in a Friday statement.
"Whitmer is hiding from this growing plane scandal story because she know what she did was wrong, hypocritical and insulting to Michiganders who stayed home during the pandemic while she is jet-setting to Florida and elsewhere," he added.
Goodman also noted to Fox News that the issue at hand is not that Whitmer wanted to visit her ill father, but rather that other citizens of the state were denied the same opportunity by Whitmer's lockdown orders that kept people out of nursing homes and hospitals.
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Whitmer was hit with an Internal Revenue Service complaint by advocacy group Michigan Rising Action for the private jet she used to get to Florida that cost over $27,000.
Whitmer was also smacked with an ethics complaint by advocacy group Americans for Public Trust to the Michigan State Board of Ethics regarding the ethical ramifications of the governor’s trip.