It‘s been a big couple of months for private jets and the public servants who love riding them on rich donors’ dimes. In April, we learned that Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas had enjoyed numerous jaunts on a private plane owned by billionaire GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow. On Tuesday, ProPublica reported that fellow justice Samuel Alito had accepted a ride on conservative billionaire Paul Singer’s private jet, for a trip in 2008 that would have otherwise set him back roughly $100,000 in each direction. And on Wednesday, it came out that Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, who has fashioned himself as a “blue-collar” kind of guy, took at least a dozen trips on a donor’s PJ—and that, according to people familiar with his travel, the Florida governor is basically allergic to flying among the masses.
The Washington Post reports that Mori Hosseini, a real estate developer and chairman of the University of Florida’s board of trustees, “lent DeSantis and his wife use of his private plane on at least 12 occasions, including as recently as February.” According to the outlet, DeSantis has also accepted rides on planes owned by other donors—and if you thought that these fancy flights were maybe just one-offs, you thought wrong. DeSantis, people familiar with the matter told the Post, “rarely, if ever, flies on commercial airlines.”
Of course, there’s nothing theoretically wrong about traveling via private plane, and per the Post, political contributions of this nature “are permitted under Florida law” as long as they are included on financial disclosure forms. But the words “rarely, if ever, flies on commercial airlines” do not exactly jibe with other words DeSantis has used to describe his background, like “blue-collar” and “salt of the earth” and “rust belt values.“ (“My father’s from western Pennsylvania; my mother’s from northeastern Ohio,” DeSantis said in an interview promoting his book shortly before announcing his 2024 run. “So that is like steel country, that is like blue-collar salt of the earth.”) If any of this sounds familiar, there is another individual who’s tried to make the case that, evidence to the contrary aside, he’s really a blue-collar, middle-class kind of guy: Donald Trump.
Anyway, in addition to the private-jet rides, the Post reported Wednesday that Hosseini lent DeSantis a golf simulator for use at the governor’s mansion, noting that the type of golf simulators “that require installation,” as DeSantis’s did, “are typically built to fit a specific space and start at $27,500,” with “curved-screen versions [starting] at $69,500.” (“This would be ripe for…scrutiny [by the Florida Ethics Commission] if a complaint were to be filed,” Caroline Klancke, executive director of the nonprofit Florida Ethics Institute, told the Post.) Hosseini also reportedly brought the governor to play golf at the highly exclusive Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia in 2018. According to the Post, “in the 2022 campaign cycle, companies controlled by Hosseini gave at least $361,000 to the Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC, a group supporting the governor’s reelection (since renamed Empower Parents PAC); the Republican Party of Florida; and the DeSantis gubernatorial campaign.… In the 2018 campaign, Hosseini and his companies contributed at least $75,000 to the state party, and he cochaired DeSantis’s gubernatorial transition team and the finance team of his inaugural committee.”
Hosseini did not respond to the Post’s request for comment. In a statement, a spokesperson for DeSantis told the outlet, of the golf simulator, “As with all donations, it was accepted and coordinated by staff and approved by legal counsel. Donations to the residence and grounds have been received over many administrations. It will remain in the state’s possession for the use of first families, their guests, and staff as it is now.”
Is regularly riding on private planes and accepting high-priced golf gifts—despite pitching himself as a guy who understands what it’s like to be “blue-collar”—the worst thing DeSantis has ever done? Absolutely not, given the fact that he’s done things like sign the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law and treated human beings like political pawns. (Also: Puddinggate.) But it is a fun thing to keep in mind, as is the fact that, his “travel records, including those from past trips, are [now] exempt from public records requests, under a law he signed in May, citing security concerns.”
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Speaking of private-jets rides, and Samuel Alito in particular…
Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the rationale proffered by the Supreme Court justice in the pages of The Wall Street Journal, which was that the high-priced jaunt—paid for by a billionaire who would go on to have repeated business before the high court—was perfectly reasonable for him to accept because the seat would have otherwise gone to waste. Oh, and that the free fishing trip was nothing to write home about—or mention on his financial disclosures—in part because the group was practically roughing it. Sayeth Alito:
In brief, the relevant facts relating to the fishing trip 15 years ago are as follows. I stayed for three nights in a modest one-room unit at the King Salmon Lodge, which was a comfortable but rustic facility. As I recall, the meals were homestyle fare. I cannot recall whether the group at the lodge, about 20 people, was served wine, but if there was wine it was certainly not wine that costs $1,000. Since my visit 15 years ago, the lodge has been sold and, I believe, renovated, but an examination of the photos and information on the lodge’s website shows that ProPublica’s portrayal is misleading.
As for the flight, Mr. Singer and others had already made arrangements to fly to Alaska when I was invited shortly before the event, and I was asked whether I would like to fly there in a seat that, as far as I am aware, would have otherwise been vacant. It was my understanding that this would not impose any extra cost on Mr. Singer. Had I taken commercial flights, that would have imposed a substantial cost and inconvenience on the deputy U.S. Marshals who would have been required for security reasons to assist me.
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