Sen. Ron Johnson calls report on tax dollar use for vacation travel a ‘fully coordinated attack’

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Thursday hit out at critics on Twitter about a report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the senator has been using tax dollars to travel between Washington, D.C., and a Florida vacation home, calling the piece “the politics of personal destruction.”

According to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation, federal records indicate that the Wisconsin Republican has gone on taxpayer-funded jaunts from Washington to Fort Myers, Florida at least 19 times between 2013 and 2021. Each of Johnson’s flights apparently cost anywhere from $227 to $1,152. Taken together, they cost anywhere from $5,418 to $18,781.

“This isn’t journalism, it’s advocacy,” Johnson said. “It is a fully coordinated attack by the Dem Party and their allies in the media.”

“When the truth isn’t on their side, Dems and MSM media lie, distort, and engage in the politics of personal destruction,” Johnson continued. “Wisconsin and America deserve better.”

The senator’s comments come after federal records included in the Journal Sentinel article indicated that Johnson had been reimbursed with federal money for 19 flights between Fort Myers, Fla., and Washington, D.C., between 2013 and 2021.

Johnson spokeswoman Alexa Henning responded to the article, arguing that the money was used for legitimate purposes. “The senator has always gone above and beyond to abide by Senate rules,” Henning said. “He has never been reimbursed for travel to visit family in Florida but is reimbursed for returning for official business to Washington, D.C.”

Philip Shulman, who is a spokesman for the Democratic Party, told the Journal Sentinel that Johnson’s reimbursements are inappropriate and fall in line with his “self-serving agenda.”

“Whether it’s helping pass legislation that enriched himself and his biggest donors or spending thousands in taxpayer dollars to fly to and from his family vacation home in Florida, Ron Johnson’s priority is his self-serving agenda, not Wisconsinites,” Shulman said. 

The news comes as Johnson heads into a reelection bid this fall in a seat that Cook Political Report has referred to as a “toss-up.”