Why American mayors have to travel around the country is something I will never understand, as it only seems ripe for corruption.
To that point, yet another mayor, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, is facing an ethics complaint for having allegedly accepted a trip to Qatar for more than $62,000.
When Karen Bass was elected as mayor of Los Angeles, she vowed that her only trips would be related to California business and she would not travel internationally during her term.
It took her about five seconds to violate that promise, and she could not have picked a worse time.
Bass traveled to Africa to attend a wedding for contacts she likely made as a member of the House, and she did it just before the wildfires, eventually admitting she made a huge mistake in going.
At the time, she stated, "Obviously, I hated the fact that I was out of the city when the city needed me the most. And frankly, when my family needed me the most -- because I was impacted, my family was impacted by the fires as well. It is a horrible feeling to know that it took a long time to come back because of how far away I was."
Foreign trips were also a problem for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was facing corruption charges related to these trips before Trump’s DOJ let him off the hook.
Adams reportedly received more than $123,000 in perks from his Turkish buddies, usually in the form of lavish gifts or travel perks.
Adams had been accused of doing political favors for these free “gifts,” and he was eventually brought up charges for bribery.
When it became fairly clear that Trump would win the election, Adams sold out, claiming he would help Trump on immigration, hoping to get Trump’s attention for a pardon if convicted. As it turns out, it did not take that long, as the DOJ had the charges dropped after Trump came into office.
Now it is Mayor Bowser who is facing allegations related to rather expensive trips that cost more than $60,000.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed the complaint against Bowser over the trips when it became clear Bowser’s explanation of who paid for the trips was called into question.
FACT stated, “It is not simply the Qatar trip, but a troubling pattern from Mar-a-Lago to Doha to Augusta National — the District has no record of who paid for these trips or what public purpose they served, if there was one at all.”
Kendra Arnold, the executive director of FACT, added, “The ethics rules exist to protect against corruption and when they are ignored, the public’s trust erodes. I urge the Board to investigate and enforce the law without delay.”
