It’s understandable that few believe Marco Rubio when he says he paid personal charges on his Republican Party charge card himself without providing any documentation. After all, Rubio already destroyed his credibility by throwing up smoke about which charges were personal, and which were political.
As The New York Times noted last night:
The campaign also said it could not provide full documentation proving Mr. Rubio had paid the personal charges himself because the corresponding personal bank statements were too old to be retrievable.
The continued drip from Rubio only reinforces the picture in voters’ minds that he doesn’t know how to handle his personal, Republican donor, or campaign money. His release of two more years of statements does nothing to answer serious questions about whether he used Republican Party funds to finance his personal expenses. And as The Washington Post points out, “The Florida GOP’s policy manual prohibited using the card for personal reasons, according to the audit.”
Read more coverage about Rubio’s remaining questions here:
Washington Post: Inside Marco Rubio’s messy American Express statements “In a news release Saturday, Rubio’s campaign portrayed the issue as resolved, listing eight personal expenses from the newly released statements that it said Rubio had paid. But the campaign did not provide documentation showing those payments… It’s unclear whether the bulk of late fees and penalties were paid personally by Rubio or by the Florida GOP…
“Rubio’s management of campaign cash also seemed chaotic. He formed two political committees and doled out money to relatives for services and expenses. He grappled with the handling of credit cards for committee business as he criss-crossed the state campaigning among his legislative colleagues for support to be elected House speaker, Rubio recalled in his 2012 memoir. He named his wife, Jeanette, as treasurer of one of the committees.”
New York Times: Marco Rubio’s Use of Party Credit Card Reinforces a Picture of Messy Finances “Newly released credit card statements from the years when Senator Marco Rubio was a young Florida legislator on the fast track to leadership show a pattern of falling behind on payments while mingling personal and political spending, disclosures that reinforce the image of a politician who has long struggled with messy finances, at home and in his career…
“Like any monthly statement, these stop short of laying out the details that would provide more explanation, like who was present for a meal and what items were purchased. That missing information makes it difficult, if not impossible, to independently corroborate which purchases were personal and which were political. The campaign also said it could not provide full documentation proving Mr. Rubio had paid the personal charges himself because the corresponding personal bank statements were too old to be retrievable.”
Tampa Bay Times: Marco Rubio campaign releases previously undisclosed GOP credit card statements “All [personal charges] were repaid by Rubio and not the party, according to the campaign, though it is impossible to corroborate that from the AmEx statements because they don’t specify who made the payments…
“While Rubio has described some personal charges as a mistake — such as the Iberia Tiles flooring — he also seemed to think it was all right to use the card for personal expenses as long as he later paid the charge. His campaign pointed to a 2010 statement from a state GOP spokeswoman who said, “The (Republican Party of Florida) American Express card is a corporate card and is meant to be used for business expenses, but if personal expenses are charged to the card, the Party trusts that individual cardholders will reimburse the Party for those expenses.” But a 2010 independent audit of the card scandal commissioned by the party pointed to an RPOF “Employee Policies & Procedures Manual” that stated the cards were “for RPOF business use only.”
Published: Nov 9, 2015