Meidas Touch News: Congressman Tiffany Spends Campaign Dollars on Lavish Lifestyle as Donor Pays His Rent

Meidas Touch News: Congressman Tiffany Spends Campaign Dollars on Lavish Lifestyle as Donor Pays His Rent

New reporting from Meidas Touch News reveals how Congressman Tom Tiffany has been using campaign funds to bankroll his lavish lifestyle - including more than $70,000 on private air travel in just two months - as one of his campaign donors pays his rent.

As "Wisconsin families face real financial pressure" thanks to sky-high gas prices and tariffs that Congressman Tiffany helped bring about with his votes to continue Trump's war in Iran and his tariffs that are bankrupting farmers and businesses, Tiffany is living large. His campaign "has spent tens of thousands of dollars on private air travel and meals at exclusive clubs," which "raise questions about how a candidate promising to cut costs for Wisconsin families spends his own donors' money."

Meidas Touch News: Tom Tiffany's Campaign Reports a Donor Covered His Rent, as His Campaign Spends Over $70,000 on Private Planes

• Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany is running for governor of Wisconsin on a promise to bring down costs for working families. But his own campaign finance records show that while many Wisconsinites struggle to cover rent, a donor has been covering his, and his campaign has spent tens of thousands of dollars on private air travel and meals at exclusive clubs.

• According to Tiffany's state campaign finance filings, Mike Heise, president of the modular home builder Wisconsin Homes, has given Tiffany's campaign a series of $1,800 in-kind contributions labeled as "apartment rent."

• His campaign has not publicly explained the arrangement, including whose name is on the lease and why one of the payments was reported differently from the others.

• Meanwhile, as a member of Congress, Tiffany did not vote on the Housing for the 21st Century Act, a major bipartisan bill designed to expand the housing supply and modernize federal housing programs. The bill passed the House 390-9 in February. According to congressional records, Tiffany also missed a May vote on the House's amended version of the legislation, which passed 396-13 and included limits on large institutional investors buying up single-family homes.

• Tiffany's September campaign finance report shows his campaign spent more than $70,000 on candidate travel with private aviation companies in August and September alone:

• Several of the companies are tied to donors who also gave the campaign in-kind contributions for flights…. Altogether, donors covered about $7,942 of Tiffany's air travel in addition to what the campaign paid directly.

• Those expenses come as Wisconsin families face real financial pressure. A state health assessment released this year found that an estimated 35% of Wisconsin households cannot afford basic needs.

• Records from Tiffany's federal campaign committee, Tiffany for Wisconsin, show similar spending over the years.

• Many of these expenses may be permissible under campaign finance rules, which allow committees to pay for travel, events, and certain constituent communications. But together, they raise questions about how a candidate promising to cut costs for Wisconsin families spends his own donors' money.

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