Word: skying
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...from the President as holy writ. So everyone expected quick action when George Bush, embarrassed by news stories on the freeloading travels of chief of staff John Sununu, directed him to "get it all out" and make "full disclosure" of his expensive trips aboard Air Force executive jets to ski resorts in Colorado and to his home in New Hampshire...
...Sununu's conduct raises questions that go far beyond the use of taxpayer-funded planes and invites a new twist on the New Hampshire motto: LIVE FREE OR DIE. Since he joined the Bush Administration, Sununu and his family have taken at least four ski trips and one trip home to New England that were financed in large part by corporate interests. Yet federal law forbids officials to accept valuable gifts, including travel and recreation, except from certain charitable and educational organizations. Items...
Pressed for an explanation late last week, a White House spokesman said Sununu had "assumed" that an educational charity, the American Ski Foundation, had actually footed the bill for Mrs. Sununu's airfare and their daily expenses. "We took their word for it," said the aide. In fact, the foundation has been inactive for several years, and currently has less than $100 in its bank account. Says Joe Prendergast, who heads the American Ski Federation: "We used to have a foundation. It's defunct...
Sununu and his aides were scrambling last weekend to find a way to get a real charitable foundation to again reimburse the government for his Aspen boondoggle. A senior official told the Washington Post that the ski industry "may have made a mistake" and "may have to shift the payment." It was unclear how an empty-pocketed, defunct charity would find the money to make the accounts right. Also unclear was how much the episode had shaken George Bush's faith in his top aide. At best, Sununu has embarrassed himself and his boss. At worst, he might even share...
After the first stories broke, officials unfriendly to Sununu quietly pushed a second, more damaging wave of allegations: Sununu not only made excessive use of Air Force planes, but when he traveled to ski resorts to give speeches, he sometimes also accepted free lodging, lift tickets and airfare for his wife. Such charges embarrassed the ethics-sensitive Bush Administration, while + providing a tempting target for Sununu's many enemies. They include...