Lawmaker Sets Record for Most Expensive Free Boondoggle

Former Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC) “decided to leave the House of Representatives last year after 18 years in office, but before he left he got a special retirement gift from a lobbyist: a nearly $50,000 trip to Australia for McIntyre and his wife Dee,” AllGov reports.

“The Defence Teaming Centre of Australia, a group representing that country’s defense contractors, paid $49,635.06 for the McIntyres to go Down Under last February for eight days, a month after McIntyre decided to retire.”