Kyrsten Sinema’s campaign spent thousands on travel to Saudi Arabia in final months in office – Washington Examiner
Kyrsten Sinema, the former Democratic senator who transitioned to an self-reliant, spent significant amounts on travel and events in the final months of her Senate career. According to campaign finance reports, her campaign allocated over $26,000 for overseas expenses, primarily for a trip to a luxurious hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which raises questions due to her previous criticisms of the saudi government, notably regarding the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In her last quarter in office, Sinema’s campaign expenditures included $144,000 on luxury travel, with significant spending at high-end hotels in locations like Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Wyoming. Additionally, she spent over $241,000 on security and $83,000 on events. Notably, her campaign purchased gifts from the Senate gift shop and Taylor Swift’s merchandise, totaling over $3,000.
Despite these expenses, Sinema’s campaign finished 2024 with nearly $4.3 million in cash. Her spending habits have led to scrutiny, including a complaint from the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics for undisclosed travel. Following her departure from the Senate,Sinema has moved into the private sector,joining the Global Advisory Council of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Her Senate seat was afterward filled by Senator Ruben Gallego.
Kyrsten Sinema’s campaign spent thousands on travel to Saudi Arabia in final months in office
Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema‘s defunct campaign spent thousands of dollars on security, travel, and Taylor Swift merchandise in her final months in the Senate.
The one-term Democrat-turned-independent senator spent her final months in office hosting undisclosed events and even traveling overseas to Saudi Arabia, according to the latest campaign finance report. She did not run for reelection in the 2024 election, but reelection records show she has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024.
Her campaign committee spent at least $26,000 on overseas expenses, most of which were for a trip to a five-star hotel in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
The report did not detail why she went on the trip. Sinema, at one point, was critical of Saudi Arabia, condemning its government assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018 just before she was elected to the Senate.
“I would encourage the Senate and the House to make sure that we’re holding Saudi Arabia accountable,” Sinnema told Arizona’s Family 3TV at the time.
The trip to Saudi Arabia marks a string of domestic and international travel Sinema has embarked on since retiring from her political career. In the final three months of the year, Sinema spent $144,000 on luxury travel.
She spent hundreds of dollars at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas and nearly $2,000 at the St. Regis San Francisco. Sinema’s campaign spent more than $10,000 at a New York hotel. In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, she spent more than $700 at the Four Seasons Resort and more than $2,000 at the five-star Amangani Hotel.
During one of her final days in office, she spent $1,482 at the Senate gift shop for “donor appreciation gifts.” Sinema also spent $1,610.75 on “event gifts” at “The Official Store of Taylor Swift.”
The Sinema campaign covered $241,000 in security-related expenses in the final three months of the year. It additionally spent $83,000 on events and meetings, $177,000 on unitemized credit card bills, and $70,000 on fundraising expenses in the quarter, according to an analysis from the Arizona Republic.
Her campaign committee didn’t take in any extra money in the final report of the year, but it still finished 2024 with nearly $4.3 million in cash. Sinema retains discretion over that money.
Sinema’s spending habits have caught the eye of ethics boards, with the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C., filing a complaint against her in December for travel she did not disclose in October.
Her campaign finance report from the previous quarter also showed thousands of dollars spent on travel. Between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2024, her campaign spent $216,000 on travel, including $71,000 on hotels in California and Arizona, as well as hotels abroad in England, France, and Japan.
After leaving office, Sinema moved to the private sector and joined crypto exchange Coinbase’s Global Advisory Council. Chris LaCivita, President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign manager, also joined the council there.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) took over Sinema’s Senate seat in January.
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