Biden Officials Coordinating to Hide Buttigieg’s Govt Jet Use

Fox News Digital reports that internal government communications show administration officials scrambled to respond to information requests pertaining to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg‘s use of government jets.

According to the communications, officials within the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) office that handles Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests actively consulted with a spokesperson for Buttigieg and a senior FAA official appointed by President Biden when processing the requests. In addition, they discussed how to sort data, enabling them to avoid sharing taxpayer costs of Buttigieg’s flights.

“It’s become increasingly clear that the Biden administration is engaging in purposeful political meddling to protect Secretary Buttigieg and hide the true cost of his taxpayer-funded private jet travel,” Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of government watchdog group Americans for Public Trust, told Fox News Digital.

“They continue to willfully ignore public disclosure laws, confirming the unofficial motto of this administration: Rules for thee, but not for me.”

In December, Fox News Digital reported that, based on flight tracking data, Buttigieg had taken 18 trips on an FAA-managed fleet of executive aircraft, reserved for government officials for occasions when flying commercial isn’t feasible. The flight records aligned with Buttigieg’s internal calendar obtained at the time by Americans for Public Trust.

Following that report, Fox News Digital filed an FOIA request for detailed information and costs of all flights logged by FAA planes since early 2021. For months, the DOT FOIA office repeatedly delayed providing the requested information.

On Feb. 27, the FAA finally shared the flight log for its private jets almost immediately after the Transportation Department’s inspector general announced an investigation into Buttigieg’s use of the planes. The FOIA office, though, opted to leave costs associated with all the flights carrying Buttigieg and his advisers blank and ignored multiple attempts for clarification.

After the FOIA was shared, Fox News Digital emailed the FOIA office multiple times, asking for clarification on why the taxpayer costs of Buttigieg’s flights were omitted. While the agency never responded, the emails show officials discussed the issue offline.