{"id":74424,"date":"2017-06-07T14:31:40","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T18:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=74424"},"modified":"2017-06-07T14:34:19","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T18:34:19","slug":"74424","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=74424","title":{"rendered":"This is exactly how the political class steals from the public coffers."},"content":{"rendered":"

Kerry\u2019s Daughter Traveled On Taxpayers\u2019 Dime To Get Government Contracts<\/h1>\n

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Then-U.S. Senator John Kerry waves as he escorts his daughter Vanessa. (Reuters\/John Schults)<\/p><\/div>\n

ETHAN BARTON
\nThe Daily Caller<\/p>\n

Secretary of State John Kerry\u2019s daughter and her staff traveled around the world on the taxpayers\u2019 dime to secure more than $9 million in Department of State-funded contracts, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation.<\/p>\n

The Peace Corps authorized an estimated $46,000 for 20 international and domestic trips for Dr. Vanessa Kerry and her staff, agency documents obtained by The DCNF show. The purpose of the travel was to form the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) \u2013 a Peace Corps-run and State Department-funded program Kerry proposed.<\/p>\n

The Peace Corps ultimately gave Kerry\u2019s nonprofit \u2013 Seed Global Health \u2013 $9 million in contracts for the program, which were bankrolled by the State Department and awarded without competition between 2012 and 2015, The DCNF previously revealed. (EXCLUSIVE: John Kerry\u2019s State Department Funneled MILLIONS To His Daughter\u2019s Nonprofit)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, the taxpayer funding of 20 globe-trotting trips for Vanessa and her team even before they had a federal contract smacks of cronyism and nepotism,\u201d libertarian think tank Cato Institute\u2019s federal spending expert Chris Edwards told The DCNF.<\/p>\n

Adam Andrzejewski, founder and CEO of the nonprofit government watchdog Open The Books, agreed, saying \u201cevery dollar the Peace Corps spent to fly Vanessa Kerry around the globe was a dollar not available to promote the Peace Corps\u2019 goals of providing clean water to impoverished communities, combatting HIV\/AIDS and promoting education for young girls.\u00a0The least Kerry could do for a program combatting extreme poverty is pick up the tab for her own travel.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In fact, three Seed officials, including Kerry, traveled to Washington, D.C., to announce the nonprofit\u2019s partnership with the Peace Corps in March 2012 \u2013 six months before the first contract was signed, records show.<\/p>\n

The Peace Corps provided more funds for additional GHSP-related travel not included in The DCNF\u2019s analysis. These trips included Peace Corps officials and members of the medical community.\u00a0Some of these trips included Peace Corps officials traveling to Seed\u2019s Boston headquarters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Peace Corps paid at least nearly $28,000 for Kerry and her staff\u2019s travel between 2011 and 2012, according The DCNF\u2019s analysis of travel documents, but the agency\u2019s poor record-keeping suggests this is an underestimate.<\/p>\n

The DCNF only obtained reimbursement forms for 12 of the 20 documented trips. It\u2019s possible Seed staff members were reimbursed for some or all of the remaining eight trips, given evidence that Peace Corps records are likely missing, but the records were either not retained or not created.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Peace Corps officials readily funded Kerry\u2019s travel, email records show.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you could cover the flight, it would be a huge help<\/a>,\u201d Kerry wrote to Peace Corps official Travis Johnson in a Nov. 2, 2011 email. Johnson is also the federal employee who created the travel documents.<\/p>\n

Johnson replied: \u201cNo problem! Just let me know the rough times (and days if you\u2019d like to arrive earlier or stay through the weekend) you\u2019d like to fly in and out of DC and I\u2019ll start working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The purpose of the travel was to meet with Peace Corps officials \u201cand other government and private partners collaborating<\/a> on the Global Health Service Partnership\u201d in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Kerry also brought a Massachusetts General Hospital coworker and a Department of State official to the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to include Pat Daoust and Tom LaSalvia at the meeting,\u201d Kerry wrote in a Nov. 7, 2011, follow-up email to Johnson and two additional Peace Corps officials. \u201cThey will take care of their own travel.\u201d\u00a0Daoust became Seed\u2019s chief nursing officer.<\/p>\n

The Peace Corps later funded travel for Daoust and at least seven other Seed officials. Daoust, in fact, had the most expensive trip<\/a> among the Seed employees, an overseas jaunt for which the Peace Corps shelled out more than $6,000, though the agency authorized more than $7,000.<\/p>\n

That travel included trips to Uganda and Tanzania as a Massachusetts General and Seed representative at GHSP formation meetings.<\/p>\n

Kerry has drawn an at least $140,000 salary in recent years, tax forms show, and budget documents obtained by The DCNF show her pay will likely increase<\/a>. Seed was founded in her father\u2019s luxurious Boston home<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn Kerry is one of the richest public officials in Washington, worth $200 million or more,\u201d Edwards told The DCNF. \u201cKerry could have personally funded his daughter\u2019s health initiative, without imposing the cost on taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust recently requested the State Department\u2019s inspector general to investigate what it called \u201cpreferential treatment<\/a>,\u201d The DCNF previously reported.<\/p>\n

Neither the Peace Corps nor Seed responded to The DCNF\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n

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\nhttp:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2016\/10\/23\/exclusive-kerrys-daughter-traveled-on-taxpayers-dime-to-get-government-contracts\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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