This morning, I joined @TxDPS and other Attorneys General in surveying the southern border along the Rio Grande. Their work plays a large part in keeping Americans and Arkansans safe in their communities hundreds of miles away. pic.twitter.com/gPXkOTrAxX
— Leslie Rutledge (@AGRutledge) January 28, 2022
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office provided some details on the cost of her trip to the Texas border to make political hay of the immigration issue with other Republicans and then to stop in Houston to attend a Donald Trump rally.
I still have some pending questions, but here’s what I know so far.
Two members of her security detail — chief investigator Jerry Keefer (who makes $80,000 a year) and investigator Jeremiah Terrell ($58,400 salary) were dispatched to provide security for Rutledge from Jan. 25 to Jan. 30. Their drive started in Cabot and included hotel stops in Sugarland, Texas, Jan. 25; McAllen, Texas Jan. 26-28 (this was the border event with other Republicans), and Jan. 28-30 in Houston (this covered the days Donald Trump spoke at a rally in a Houston suburb at which he gave a shoutout to Rutledge.) They submitted gas, meal and hotel charges for those dates.
Deputy Communications Director Stephanie Sharp (her salary isn’t listed on the state transparency website; UPDATE: it turned up today — $80,000) submitted expenses for Jan. 26-28 in McAllen.
Here’s what I know so far:
Hotel rooms for Keefer and Terrell added up to about $2,278.
They were reimbursed about $175 for meals.
Sharp submitted hotel and Uber expenses of about $625 for her two nights in McAllen.
The only reimbursed expense provided for Rutledge herself was $607 for a hotel room in McAllen.
About $404 was reimbursed for fuel charges (presumably for the office SUV, but that’s one question still pending.) Little Rock-McAllen is more than 1,600 miles, which piles up more costs in vehicle wear and tear than just the fuel.
So the total of receipts provided to me is about $4,089. Here are the details:
And also:
McAllen Travel Card and Wex Card receipts not billed for payment_Redacted
But there are questions.
How did Rutledge and Sharp get to and from Texas? With no hotel charges for them before McAllen (or after McAllen in Sharp’s case), I could guess they didn’t drive down or back with the security officers.
Did Rutledge have no meal or hotel expenses in McAllen and Houston? And, if she did, who paid for them? Did Sharp have meal expenses? Were the security officers on state time during the Trump rally stop?
Rutledge, who faces a lawsuit over spending state money on overtly political purposes, presumably has some concerns about appearances. She’s previously provided an excuse for the McAllen trip — that immigrants and drugs that cross the Texas border eventually find their way to Arkansas and thus the photo op there with a big gun was a necessary trip for an Arkansas elected official. The Trump rally on Jan. 30? No way to put that down to official business by Rutledge, who gets paid almost $140,000 a year by taxpayers.
I’ve asked Rutledge’s communications director for further information about the unclear details and will pass them along should they emerge. Today is a state holiday, however, so …
From the Trump rally:
Thank you, President Trump! We are in this fight together to save America from Biden & Pelosi’s dangerous policies & unconstitutional actions! #AmericaFirst #arpx pic.twitter.com/hVXPz3Ldai
— Leslie Rutledge (@LeslieRutledge) January 31, 2022
