WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Nonprofits paid for more than 8,000 trips on behalf of members of Congress, according to a watchdog group, and in return, they were richly rewarded with federal grants.
Open the Books analysis revealed that five nonprofit organizations paid for 925 trips for members of Congress and their staff. Over the five-year period evaluated, Open the Books determined that those five nonprofits secured $102 million in federal grants from Congress.
“The trips frequently include transportation, food, and hotel accommodations,” said Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of the watchdog organization. “It's an unholy alliance that indicates they're buying friends and favors.”
For example, the Atlantic Council spent $47.9 million on sponsoring 53 trips between 2017 and 2021.
“The transactions are legal, but the pattern is troubling,” Andrzejewski told Legal Newsline. “All of these trips are catalogued in a database and you can click through for all the details. So, there is a level of transparency, however Congress writes the rules and the rules are still lax.”
Andrzejewski is advocating for change.
“Reform is very simple - if an entity is receiving federal contracts or grants, they can't sponsor or pay for trips for members of Congress or their staffers,” he said. “The reform would cure the conflict. It cures the prima facia conflict of interest but it hasn't been codified into legislation yet.”
In other examples, Aspen institute spent $38.2 million on 379 trips while the United Nations Foundation spent $11.2 million on 244 trips.
“Employees of the Aspen Institute also contributed $800,000 worth of political donations heavily weighted towards Democrats,” Andrzejewski added. “I find it disconcerting that there is a United Nations Foundation organized as a public charity under U.S. law and that it's receiving funding from our Congress.”
As reported in The Epoch Times, members of Congress or their staff took about 2,600 trips to foreign destinations and 5,490 trips to domestic destinations. Some of the more popular foreign travel destinations include Israel with 939 Congressional trips, Berlin, Germany with 103 Congressional trips, Tokyo, Japan with 100 Congressional trips, Paris, France with 102 Congressional trips and Brussels, Belgium with 76 Congressional trips.