Junkets

Ron Brewington has a job that would make avid movie fans envious. On almost any given weekend, the freelance reporter and film critic can be found ensconced at some swank, four-star hotel chatting away with major movie stars such as Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington after first attending free screenings of their latest films. Furthermore, his air fare, lodging and meals are all paid for by the studio showing the film.

At least 59 senators pocketed appearance fees from special interest groups during 1991, the last year they were permitted to accept honorariums, according to financial disclosure documents made public Friday. While the amount of honorariums accepted by senators declined sharply over previous years, there appeared to be little--if any--drop-off in the number of junkets that senators took at the expense of special interest groups. Sen. Frank H.

A group of congressional figures has joined House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) under an ethics cloud stemming from foreign golf junkets arranged by a lobbyist facing influence-peddling investigations. DeLay landed in trouble last month over a 2000 trip to Scotland with the lobbyist. But two other congressmen and three House aides also played St. Andrews on separate junkets with the lobbyist that may have violated House rules, records show.

Barely a month before he is expected to leave office for a high-paying private job, state Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) is leading a weeklong legislative junket to New York City that includes as part of the agenda a tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A former top federal procurement official in the Bush administration was indicted Wednesday on five counts of lying and obstructing justice in connection with an investigation into a lavish golf junket to Scotland arranged by Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. David H.

Overseas travel by members of Congress has drawn close scrutiny and occasional controversy for years, but new pressures so burden the image of such trips that they have become a real political danger for all who undertake them. The result, say those who track the issue, is both a noticeable drop in overseas travel and a worrisome erosion of interest and understanding of international issues among members of Congress--those who must ratify treaties, approve the deployment of U.S.

Tom Ham has strapped himself into the back seat of a barrel-rolling fighter jet. He has duked it out in a Las Vegas boxing ring. He has tumbled thousands of feet in free fall from a plane. He has spent the night in a creepy medieval castle in England. And he has attended the premiere of "Ocean's 11" with its stars Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt. Ham lives a life any 10-year-old boy would love.

Clients of a lobbyist under investigation for influence peddling donated a total of $50,000 to the conservative think tank that said it funded House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's trip to Britain in 2000, the head of that nonprofit group confirmed Saturday.

Although members of Congress have jumped off the speaking fee gravy train, many are still taking planes to sunny and snowy resorts on "fact finding" junkets sponsored by special interest groups, according to financial reports released Friday. The traveling lawmaker often is a Democratic committee chairman or a ranking Republican--and the sponsoring group usually has vital business before the lawmaker's panel.

City Councilman Louis Byrd is under fire for traveling to Gabon in Central Africa at city expense to attend a summit on economic and human development in that region. The nine-day trip, which included brief stops in New York City, Morocco and Senegal, cost $3,957, according to city documents. Byrd said he met some of Africa's most influential leaders during the five-day summit, including the presidents of Benin, Botswana and Nigeria. Among those who spoke at the event were the Rev.