It has become legend in Florida political circles Marco Rubio’s financial story: two years of credit card transactions from his time in the state House, when he and other Republican leaders freely spent party money. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. answers… “And every month I would get a bill in my home, and I would review it. And if it was something on it that was personal, I would pay it. And if it wasn’t, the party paid it”. “I don’t know what he [Trump] said”, Rubio said. The card was issued to him by the Republican Party of Florida when he was in the state legislature. According to the Guardian, those charges included a $10,000 vacation, repairs for the family minivan, and a single movie ticket.
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Rubio’s personal finances are gaining new scrutiny as he tries to break out of a crowded GOP field.
In his book, American Son, Rubio said that over the four year period he charged about 0,000 to the card in total over the four year period.
So why was Rubio using the card to charge personal expenses in the first place?
Rubio dismissed the charges as old news and said he did nothing wrong.
Cruz, after months of never criticizing any Republican candidate by name, is increasingly doing so – and Rubio has found himself the target.
“The Conservative Solutions Project is flaunting the tax laws and flaunting the interests of the American people by using its improper claim of nonprofit tax status to keep secret the donors financing its campaign activities”, Democracy 21 president Fred Wertheimer said in a statement.
He said Rubio should have no reason to not put out the complete record of the American Express charge card Rubio once held that was paid primarily by the Florida Republican Party.
“Those credit card statements are an internal party matter”. His spokesman, Alex Conant, said Wednesday that those expenses were for party business and that the state GOP paid them.
We’ll be keeping an eye on this issue but based on the information released so far, a mountain’s been made out of molehill, by the media and Rubio’s opponents.
After the double dipping was revealed, Rubio repaid the party about $3,000.
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A complaint was filed in 2010 against Rubio with the Florida Ethics Commission. Corporate cards were “for RPOF business use only”, the manual said, and a few cardholders also were told verbally that they could only use the card for party-related business.
