Clinton sacks his travel staff
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Your support makes all the difference.WASHINGTON - President Clinton yesterday fired the entire travel staff at the White House and called in the FBI to investigate shoddy accounting procedures and mismanagement. Catherine Cornelius, a cousin of Mr Clinton, has taken over the office that organises travel for White House staffers and press corps, writes Patrick Cockburn.
Dee Dee Myers, the White House press secretary, said: 'We wouldn't have taken this kind of action if we didn't think the record warranted it. This is very serious. We've asked the the FBI to investigate the whole accounting procedure.'
The seven staffers, some long-time White House employees and all appointed before Mr Clinton came to office, were responsible for arranging millions of dollars of air fares on commercial and charter flights, usually paying more than the normal ticket price. Journalists have sometimes been surprised by the size of the bills that they have been asked to pay and the lack of documentation accompanying them. 'One of the things we found was that the travel office was poorly managed and did not use sound accounting procedures,' Ms Myers said. 'They kept very few records and receipts.'
The failings of the travel office came to light when Vice-President Al Gore carried out an efficiency review of government operations. The normal system is that the press pays the price of a charter plane and the White House staff, who are not on the President's own plane, travel for free.
Ms Cornelius, the new head of the office, formerly worked for World Wide Travel, a travel agency based in Little Rock, Arkansas, which arranged facilities for the press during the presidential election campaign. Her appointment is bound to stir controversy, particularly as her management of the campaign travel office was strongly criticised by members of the White House Press corps.
One White House correspondent said yesterday: 'Charges amounting to dollars 10,000 or more have shown up on some reporters' bills that bear no relation to times they were on the campaign.' Another said that World Wide Travel is 'still billing reporters with very poorly documented' charges from last year's campaign.
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