LANSING, Mich. – There’s new controversy over Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s private jet trip to Florida to see her ailing father and who will ultimately pay for the flight.
The Michigan GOP has filed a campaign finance complaint against Whitmer for trying to use campaign funds to pay for the flight from Lansing to Palm Beach.
Read: Gov. Whitmer’s reelection campaign to pay for flights to, from Florida to visit father, AP says
Initially, a nonprofit was supposed to pay for the flight, but the FAA ruled the owner of the plane couldn’t take money from a social welfare organization. Now that Whitmer’s reelection campaign has said it will pay for the flight, MiGOP is questioning if that’s legal.
The campaign finance complaint argues the plane cost falls outside an incidental office expense and that the trip was personal -- Whitmer flew to Florida to see her father, but she has maintained she was working while she was there.
“I was doing both my job as governor, from a distance, and as daughter who was helping out a parent parent who needed a little help,” Whitmer said.
According to the MiGOP complaint, “There is no other individual or organization who should have paid for the Governor’s luxury personal travel to Florida except for Governor Whitmer herself.”
A decision on this rests with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.