Fox News Sunday Paid $13,998.55 To Fly Rep. Tom Delay To And From D.C.

Political Money Line reports:

“Rep. Tom DeLay filed a report with the Clerk of the House of Representatives indicating he received free travel valued at $13,998.55 from Fox News Sunday for “officially connected travel” on October 1-2, 2005, from Sugarland, TX to Washington, D.C. and back to Sugarland, TX. Rep. DeLay appeared on Fox News Sunday on October 2, 2005, the weekend after his indictment on September 28, 2005.” Here is the PDF.

Last month, a tipster said the $13,998 paid for a “private jet to fly him and his entourage back to DC from Texas,” and “that is not counting expenses.”

> Ablogistan asks: “Is it normal for networks to pay for travel expenses anyway? And if so…. $14,000?!?”

> Update: 10:43am: A Fox insider responds to the report that Fox News Sunday spent $13,998.55 to fly Rep. Tom DeLay to D.C. for an interview:

“Travel arrangements like these are hardly unique to Fox News Sunday…however, given that this was a high profile exclusive and that Mr. DeLay was the only guest on the show that morning, conducting the interview via satellite would have undermined the production quality of the show. More importantly, it would have cost double the amount to fly the show’s entire crew to Sugarland, TX, than it did to bring Mr. DeLay to D.C.”