MO-SEN

'Claire Air': How Bad Is It For McCaskill?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 22, 2011, 2:40PM

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) attempted to bring an end to the series of bad stories about her air travel on a conference call with reporters yesterday.

"I have convinced my husband to sell the damn plane," she said. "He has hired a broker, and I can tell you I will never set foot on the plane again."

It's not a bad plan. The private twin-engine plane, which McCaskill owns along with her husband and several investors, was meant, McCaskill has said, to provide a convenient (and, she says, cheaper) way to get around Missouri on official business. But in addition to hastening her trips to constituent meetings, the plane has given her opponents plenty of runway to launch attacks as her 2012 reelection campaign begins.

Though the ethical questions are murky, and McCaskill has opened her checkbook to repay the real expense of the flights and the unpaid taxes she owed on the plane, there's no denying that the optics surrounding the private flights are about as bad as optics can get.

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Topics: Claire McCaskill, MO-SEN

Claire McCaskill

'Air Claire' Scandal Turns: McCaskill Ponies Up $287K In Back Taxes

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 21, 2011, 5:06PM

Well, this isn't the way to put a scandal to bed. As if the fact that she charged taxpayers for her flights around Missouri in a private plane she owns with her husband and several investors wasn't enough, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has revealed that she hasn't paid personal property taxes on the plane for four years.

And what's worse for McCaskill supporters, she suggested there might be more plane-related bad news to come.

The Senator told reporters today she's sending a check for $287,273 to St. Louis County, where the twin-engine plane she used to hop around Missouri is based. According to Politico, McCaskill also "said she had campaign lawyers looking into the flights to determine if any more in-kind contributions needed to be reported to be in compliance." That means there could me more news about the plane Republicans are already calling ClaireAir down the road.

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Topics: Claire McCaskill, MO-SEN

Claire McCaskill

Missouri Republicans Step Up 'Air Claire' Attack On McCaskill

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 21, 2011, 11:15AM

First they turned Sen. Claire McCaskill's (D-MO) private flights into a full-blown ethics complaint, and now, not surprisingly, the Missouri Republican Party is turning them into an election issue.

With a full-page ad running in today's Springfield, MO News-Leader, the state party is making clear that they plan to make a major issue out of the tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars McCaskill spent on a plane she owns with her husband and other investors. McCaskill is a favorite 2012 pickup opportunity among the GOP, and it seems clear they're relishing the scandal.

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Topics: 2012 elections, Claire McCaskill, MO-SEN

Claire McCaskill

Claire McCaskill Faces Ethics Complaint Over Private Plane Travel

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 15, 2011, 11:46AM

If Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) thought returning the $88,000 in taxpayer money she spent on flights aboard a private plane she owns a piece of would make the scandal go away, the Missouri Republican Party would like to inform her she's got another thing coming.

The party clearly smells blood in the water, and they've filed a formal ethics complaint against McCaskill -- a top GOP target in 2012 -- to make sure the story stays around for a least a little while longer.

As first reported by Politico last week, McCaskill sent the U.S. Treasury $88,000 after an investigation by the paper into her state travel found she "spent nearly $76,000 in public funds since 2007 to fly on a charter plane she co-owns with her husband and other investors."

McCaskill denies any wrongdoing and her office says neither she nor her husband made a dime from the use of the aircraft, which the Senator used mostly to crisscross her homestate. McCaskill ponied up the $88,000 "to cover all costs associated with the flights," according to Politico.

The state GOP says that's an example of too little, too late. Plus, they say they've got evidence that the flights broke ethics rules.

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Topics: 2012 elections, Claire McCaskill, MO-SEN

Senate '12

Poll: Sen. McCaskill Looks Vulnerable For Defeat In 2012

Jon Terbush | March 8, 2011, 3:53PM

Sen Claire McCaskill (D-MO) may face a tough road to reelection in 2012 according to a new PPP poll of registered voters that shows her just barely squeaking past a number of potential challengers.

McCaskill won election to her first term in 2006, but by a slim two-point margin in a year when Democrats romped to victory nationwide. As a result, her seat has been viewed as a toss-up heading into 2012, something the poll's results seem to confirm.

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Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Claire McCaskill, Ed Martin, MO-SEN, Polls, Senate '12