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THE BARNEY FRANK PRIVATE JET STORY ISN?T FADING AWAY. U.S. Rep. Barney Frank?s GOP challenger i?

By Glenn Reynolds

THE BARNEY FRANK PRIVATE JET STORY ISN’T FADING AWAY.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank?s GOP challenger is calling on the congressman to release an ethics opinion that Frank says cleared his trip to the Virgin Islands aboard a $25 million private jet owned by a billionaire hedge fund manager.

?Frank should release the opinion from the Ethics Committee so we know exactly what Frank was claiming,? said Sean Bielat, the Newton Democrat?s Republican opponent. ?If he did not disclose all the gifts or undervalued them, he could be in violation of House ethics laws.?

The Herald reported this week that Frank and his partner, Jim Ready, made the tropical getaway just before Christmas 2009 on a jet owned by financier S. Donald Sussman, fiance of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine). In addition to flying from Maine to the Virgin Islands with Sussman and Pingree, Frank and Ready stayed in Sussman?s mansion on the island, an aide told the Herald.

Frank reported the jet ride as a gift in required House financial disclosures – claiming the cost of the flight was $1,500 – but reported no other expenses related to the vacation. Aviation experts say the cost of flying a private jet between Maine and the Virgin Islands would cost as much as $30,000 each way.

House Ethics rules aren’t exactly stringent — but I don’t want to hear one goddamned word about my freaking carbon footprint from Barney Frank, or his cronies.

Including his crony Nancy Pelosi: New documents uncovered by Judicial Watch show Pelosi took 85 trips on military aircraft.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on October 15, 2010 (boomark / email).