By David Whitney, Bee Washington Bureau
ABC News caught Rep. Dan Lungren poolside at a Hawaii resort hotel in a nationally aired report on the Gold River Republican appearing at an American Association of Airport Executives winter conference in January.
Lungren, the senior Republican on the Homeland Security Committee's transportation security panel, spoke at the gathering and attend many of its sessions. But he and his wife traveled there on money from his House campaign committee and held a fundraiser there that drew many of the conference participants.
Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation said the trip violated the spirit of a new congressional ethics law because the fundraiser allowed special interests to indirectly finance the trip.
Lungren said it was all perfectly legal and the trip was a great opportunity for him to meet with airport executives on terrorism issues.
"We followed all the rules," Lungren said.
More than the substance, however, the none-too-flattering ABC News videos of him lounging poolside were an issue for Lungren. He said the scene was shot during a lunch break when nothing else was going on at the conference.
The AAAE said it was "disappointed" in the ABC report and that it has "always scrupulously followed the law and government ethics rules."
Lungren may not have helped himself with these comments to reporter Brian Ross:
"Organizations have their conventions usually at nice places," he said. "I'll admit I like to go to that particular one."
And then he was asked if he would have attended the event had it been in Pittsburgh in January:
"Do I look like I go to Pittsburgh in January?"
Check out the ABC News report here.
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