PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – A lot of people are surprised and disappointed by news about a well-liked and well-respected former member of congress from South Florida.
Miami Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is under investigation by the Justice Department for reportedly spending thousands of dollars in leftover campaign cash on luxury vacations and fancy hotels.
When she announced her retirement after 30 years in Congress in 2017, Ros-Lehtinen said: “I love what I do and I’m going to do something else. There comes a time that you say, ‘Even though this is a wonderful life and even though I’m doing what I love to do, there are so many other wonderful things.’ ”
Some of the wonderful things she did in retirement were allegedly paid for with money left over from her campaign. She had $177,000 in contributions she transffered to her political action committee, the IRL PAC — money that could be spent for political purposes, but not personal expenses.
But she reportedly did: More than $27,000 spent at the W Hotel on South Beach, at the MesaMar restaurant in Coral Gables, more than $3,100 for a New Year’s Eve party.
There was a family trip to Disney World in Orlando that cost more than $3,700.
FEC records show that Ros-Lehtinen spent more than $10,000 at New York’s Palace Hotel.
And about $5,800 at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island.
In total, it appears that Ros-Lehtinen spent about $50,000 in campaign donations on personal expenses..
The former congresswoman, a champion for gay rights, a free Cuba, and a strong Israel was popular and respected on both sides of the aisle.
Defense attorney Jeff Weiner released a statement saying that Ros-Lehtinen is aware of the investigation and has been cooperating.
The statement read, in part:
“We are gathering the information requested by the Department of Justice and are confident that, if bookkeeping errors were committed, they were due to negligence, and not willful or intentional misconduct.”
Ros-Lehtinen represented Florida’s 27th congressional district, which includes parts of Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables and Kendall, for three decades, from 1989 to 2019.
Local 10 contacted Ros-Lehtinen to talk about the allegations but we have not heard back. The Justice Department had no comment.