[h1 class="Headline"]McKinney Admits "Error" With Taxpayer Money[/h1][h2 class="SubHead"] [/h2][div class="posted"][font size="1"]POSTED: 4:21 pm EST March 29, 2006[/font][/div][div class="updated"][font size="1"]UPDATED: 7:20 am EDT April 4, 2006
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[/div][!--startindex--][b class="Dateline"]WASHINGTON, D.C. -- [/b]Rep. Cynthia McKinney admits that she broke government rules by spending money to fly a celebrity to Atlanta.Channel 2 Action News has uncovered documents showing McKinney, D-Ga., spent about $1,000 of taxpayer's money to fly singer Isaac Hayes to Georgia to help dedicate a new office in Atlanta.
The money came from a fund members of Congress are supposed to use for office supplies.Using the money to pay for Hayes' airline ticket and hotel expenses is a violation of strict congressional rules. Those rules state that taxpayer money can only be used for "travel by Members, Members' employees and vendors.
A vendor is an employee of a private company that provides maintenance and support for equipment and software..."Watchdog groups call taxpayer-funded celebrity travel a blatant waste of taxpayer money.McKinney staffers say they will reimburse the congressional fund for the cost of Hayes' flight and hotel room.