Pennsylvania Auditor General “Jet-Setting Gene” DePasquale has spent around $80,000 in taxpayer money conducting press conferences since taking office in 2013.
The total was arrived at after a preliminary review of expenses from press conferences conducted by the Department of the Auditor General from information received from the Department in response to a PA GOP-filed Right-to-Know request.
Since taking office in 2013, according to the information provided, “Jet-Setting Gene” has held 186 press conferences, for a rough average of over $430 of taxpayer money being spent per press conference.
Notable expenses from the Auditor General and/or his staff uncovered by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, include repeated dining at up-scale Pittsburgh meatball establishment Sienna Mercato, thousands of dollars in purchasing new camera equipment, and—absurdly—over a thousand dollars in intra-state air travel for the jet-setting Auditor General and his staff to travel within Pennsylvania to publicize his office’s work.
To make matters worse, these press conferences, costing Pennsylvania taxpayers an average of $430 per pop, are then used by “Jet-Setting Gene’s” political arm as he gears up for a Congressional run and likely other future higher office.
In response, Republican Party of Pennsylvania Communications Director Jason Gottesman, made the following statement:
“As Pennsylvania’s independent fiscal watchdog, Auditor General DePasquale spending $80,000 in taxpayer money for press conferences is atrocious behavior.
“Over the last six-plus years, jet-setting Gene DePasquale has wasted taxpayer resources on high-end restaurants, top-of-the-line camera equipment, and luxury air travel in order to publicize the work of his office as a means to gain good publicity for his next political run.
“Since taxpayers can’t trust Eugene DePasquale to be a good steward of their hard-earned dollars as their fiscal watchdog, they should not trust him with higher office, more responsibility, or more say in now their money is spent.”
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