Pete Buttigieg claims to fly commercial, government watchdog sues for access to records showing use of private, government jets

Americans for Public Trust, a government watchdog group, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration over its lack of transparency regarding Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's use of private government jets. 

APT has alleged that its requests to obtain FAA records detailing Buttigieg's flights have been delayed on numerous occasions, calling the agency's decision to hide behind a veil of secrecy a disservice to the American people 


 

"Pete Buttigieg abused taxpayer dollars by using a private jet to fly domestically and internationally," APT executive director Cailtin Sutherland said in a statement to Fox News. She lamented the fact that while her group had helped shine light on Buttigieg's use of private government jets months ago, "his agency refuses to tell the American people how much they’re on the hook for his extravagant travel arrangements."

Sutherland explained that her group had made the decision to file a lawsuit "on behalf of all Americans who deserve to know how their money is being spent by this administration," slamming Buttigieg and the FAA for having "stonewalled and refused to adhere to the law for releasing public records."

As Fox News reports, the FAA acknowledged that it had received the APT's November 2022 and January 2023 Freedom of Information Act requests, but never adhered to the deadlines it set, and eventually delayed the sending of the records indefinitely. Under FOIA guidelines, federal agencies must produce requested records within 20 to 30 business days.

"The FAA has not communicated with APT concerning whether the FAA will fulfill its FOIA requests since missing two self-imposed extended deadlines of May 1 and May 18, 2023," the APT wrote in their lawsuit, "nor has the FAA provided any indication as to when APT can expect its requests to be processed."  

Buttigieg, an ardent climate change activist, has been called out for his use of private jets. An investigation by Fox News revealed that he took 18 flights using taxpayer-funded aircraft between 2021 and 2022, many of which were cross-country. The Department of Transportation responded to the investigation not by denying that Buttigieg had used the private jets, but by saying that "he flies commercially the vast majority of the time."