Special to Watchdog.org

By Malia Zimmerman

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Hawaii over the holidays, spending several days in the Presidential Suite at the Hualalai resort for $10,000 nightly.

According to interviews with the US capitol police and local law enforcement authorities, Hawaii county police were required to provide security for her at a non-reimbursable cost of
more than $21,000 to Hawaii county taxpayers.

This came at a time when county mayors and their departments are looking for ways to cut back
on expenses and considering tax hikes because of shrinking tax revenues.

Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s spokesperson, and the capitol police interviewed for this story, maintain that her protective detail is required.

How did Pelosi travel to Hawaii?  Hammill says Pelosi took a commercial flight.  But that isn’t typical for Pelosi, according to documents obtained recently by Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption.

In a January 2010 report entitled “Judicial Watch Uncovers New Documents Detailing Pelosi’s Use of Air Force Aircraft”, the government watchdog organization details that military travel by Pelosi, her family and congressional peers, “cost the United States Air Force $2,100,744.59 over a 2-Year period, including $101,429 for in- flight expenses such as food and alcohol.”

The group, through a Freedom of Information Act request, obtained 2,000 documents from the U.S. Air Force, showing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s frequent use of United States Air Force aircraft for Congressional Delegations. In summary:

*Pelosi traveled to her district (Washington DC to San Francisco) at an estimated $28,210.51 per trip.

*Pelosi led 103 congressional delegations (CODEL), with 31 of those trips including the House Speaker’s family members.

*One congressional delegation included travel from Washington, DC, and included stops in Tel Aviv, Israel to Baghdad, Iraq, “to discuss matters of mutual concern with government leaders.” Congress members and their spouses went on this trip at a cost $17,931 per hour for aircraft use. During this time, congress members and their family purchased “Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Bailey’s Irish Crème, Maker’s Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewars scotch,
Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniels whiskey, Corona beer and several bottles of wine,” documents obtained by Judicial Watch show.

*International congressional trips such as these each cost an average of $228,563.

*A March 29—April 7, 2007 public document shows that when the congressional delegation stopped in Israel, “CODEL could only bring Kosher items into the Hotel. Kosher alcohol for mixing beverages in the Delegation room was purchased on the local economy i.e. Bourbon, Whiskey, Scotch, Vodka, Gin, Triple Sec, Tequila, etc.”

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton says: “These documents suggest the Speaker’s congressional delegations are more about partying than anything else.”

Judicial Watch lists Pelosi as one of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians”

“At the heart of the corruption problem in Washington is a sense of entitlement. Politicians believe laws and rules (even the U.S. Constitution) apply to the rest of us but not to them. Case in point: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her excessive and boorish demands for military travel. … Pelosi has been treating the Air Force like her own personal airline,” Fitton says.

Hammill says ” Judicial Watch’s math is impossible.” and promises more of a follow up tomorrow to answer the other questions related to these documents.

See more about this story at http://www.judicialwatch.org/news/2009/mar/judicial-watch-uncovers-documents-detailing-pelosis-repeated-requests-military-travel

Local Police Escorts for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Cost Hawaii County More Than $21,000:  Escorts are required while Pelosi was in the islands this holiday season, but not reimbursed by Pelosi or federal government

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?a7d1c046-71b7-48cf-b5ff-6b894c9670e6

Malia Zimmerman is the president of Hawaii Reporter, and has worked for the Wall Street Journal, ABC 20/20, Fox News and the Washington Times. She wrote this piece for Watchdog.org