Tom Craddick: Travelling in Style

A watchdog group filed an ethics complaint against House Speaker Tom Craddick on Tuesday over some of his travel expenses. Craddick spent $13,513.40 for a charter jet to attend a prominent Republican's funeral, and $1,800 to take his wife with him to a conference in Lithuania. The Committee to Expose Dishonest and Incompetent Attorneys and Judges contends that these expenses were an excessive and illegal use of campaign funds.

The charter flight was to attend State Rep. Glenda Dawson's funeral in 2006. The plane ticket was for State Legislative Leaders Foundation conference in Lithuania, which both Craddick and his wife attended.

Craddick's spokespeople claim that these expensive flights were legitimate uses of his campaign funds, and that, given the situation, there was no other way to get to the funeral than to pay over $10,000 to fly back to Texas from Colorado.