Background: Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (KVOA/YouTube). Left inset: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema campaigning (KPNX/YouTube). Right inset: Private jets taking off from an airport in Scottsdale, Arizona (KPHO/YouTube).
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has been accused of using campaign funds to splurge on travel expenses for trips to Europe, Japan, Aspen and “California wine country.” The Democrat-turned-independent “illegally” used the money to pay for chartered domestic and international flights, hotels, personal meals and catering — which “appear unrelated to any campaign or official business,” according to a government watchdog group.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit, hurled the accusations in a complaint filed last week with the Federal Election Commission, which has been urged to refer the allegations to the Department of Justice. According to the group, Sinema “appears” to have violated criminal law and election rules by using campaign funds for “personal” purposes.
“Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (‘CREW’) brings this complaint before the Federal Election Commission seeking an immediate investigation and enforcement action against Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and her principal campaign committee, Sinema for Arizona, for apparent direct and serious violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act,” the complaint says. “FECA prohibits political campaign committees from expending campaign funds for personal use if the expenses ‘would exist irrespective of the candidate’s election campaign.’ Senator Sinema appears to have used the financial support of her campaign committee in place of other sources of funding to pay for her personal travel, which existed irrespective of her government service and Senate campaign.”
What makes Sinema’s case stand out even more, according to the watchdog group, is that she announced she would not run for reelection in March, “exactly eight months before Election Day, and before Sinema for Arizona disbursed over $100,000 for what appear to be personal travel expenses,” the complaint says.
“Sinema for Arizona received no contributions, other than one unitemized dollar, after disbursing these funds,” the complaint alleges. “The Commission must enforce FECA in light of what appear to be flagrant and serious violations of the law.”
According to campaign finance reports viewed by the Arizona Republic, Sinema — Arizona’s first female senator — billed about $216,000 for travel between July and September, and another $152,000 for security-related expenses on top of that. It’s unclear why or when she went on her trips, only that they were costly.
A reported jaunt to Boston, for example, led to at least 9 travel-related disbursements totaling $7,990.57 to vendors that weren’t related to any fundraising, campaign or official business, the CREW complaint says. She allegedly spent $522.92 at Davio’s Catering in Boston; $218.29 at Bocellis in Medford, Massachusetts; $307.00 at Nash Bar & Stage in Boston; $605.04 at Grill 23 & Bar in Boston; $3,640.24 at Davio’s Catering in Boston; $450.02 at Star Market Company, Inc., in West Bridgewater; and $2,075.04 at the Empire restaurant and lounge in Boston, among other expenses.
“During July and early August of 2024, following the Senator’s trip to Boston, Sinema for Arizona made disbursements supporting travel and events in Sonoma, California and Aspen, Colorado, among other locations,” the complaint says. “In July through September 2024, Sinema for Arizona made at least sixteen travel related disbursements in California and Colorado totalling $15,014.66 in the late summer which appear unrelated to any fundraising or official business.”
Some of Sinema’s other trips and expenses, according to the Arizona Republic, included attending the Paris Olympics in August and visiting Tokyo. In London, she reportedly spent $4,500 for lodging, a car service and meetings with Thai and Indian meals catered from local restaurants. Train tickets, alone, reportedly cost her $800 during that trip. She also allegedly spent over $3,000 in Italy.
“The rule of thumb is that any dollar your campaign spends has to be for the campaign — it can’t just be for your own personal benefit,” said CREW president Noah Bookbinder in a statement. “It’s hard to see how any of this spending was for the benefit of the campaign.”
Sinema, whose term ends on Jan. 3, was investigated last year for her campaign spending after being accused in a similar complaint filed with the FEC by a political-action committee called Change for Arizona 2024, also known as the “Replace Sinema” group. While it’s unclear what came of that ethics complaint, political experts and Sinema supporters have told AZFamily that it and other allegations have “never been found with merit.”
“This tracks with a number of other complaints,” political strategist Stacy Pearson told the local outlet in an interview last week after Sinema’s Senate farewell speech, which came on the same day the CREW complaint was filed.
“When it comes to complaints about campaign finance, there have not been substantial consequences,” added Matt Grodsky, another strategist. “It would be a different story if she were remaining in the Senate.”
Sinema and her team could not be reached for comment Friday or Saturday as they’ve been out of the office since Dec. 20.
