WASHINGTON — Six staff members for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., traveled by private charter to Pittsburgh in July 2024 as part of a congressional investigation into security failures surrounding the attempted assassination of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to Senate spending records. The trip cost taxpayers $17,827, records show. It accounted for more than 18% of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s travel and transportation spending from April 1 through Sept. 30, 2024. At the time, Paul was the committee’s top Republican. He is now its chair. The aides traveled from Washington to Pittsburgh, then visited the Butler Farm Show grounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was shot at a July 13 campaign rally. They also toured the nearby American Glass Research building, from which the gunman fired at the rally before being killed by law enforcement. The group received briefings from local law enforcement officials and interviewed four officers who provided backup at the rally, two attendees and the president of the sportsmen’s club where the shooter had been a member. The investigation’s findings were later included in a bipartisan interim report. Paul’s office said the charter was necessary to move the full investigative team efficiently and complied with Senate rules. “The committee launched a year-long investigation into the Secret Service failures that let the attack happen,” spokesperson Drew Carmichael said. “This was the most efficient and effective means for the entire investigative team to participate in the investigative activities that day.” The office did not provide specific details about why a private aircraft was considered more cost-effective than commercial flights or ground transportation. It also did not say whether Paul approved the arrangement or traveled on the plane. The listed passengers were his staff director, chief counsel, research assistant, operations director, press assistant and a professional staff member. Comparable travel by other committee aides cost substantially less. An aide to then-Chair Gary Peters, D-Mich., spent less than $700 for the same fact-finding trip. Staff members for the committee’s top Democrat and Republican on its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations spent slightly more than $900 and less than $700, respectively. Two of Peters’ senior aides each flew commercially for less than $400. “Senator Peters is committed to the responsible use of taxpayer dollars, and staff used commercial air or standard ground transportation while conducting the bipartisan investigation,” a spokesperson said. A trip by car from Washington to Butler can take about five hours, while a direct flight takes slightly more than an hour. Senate rules allow official funds to be used for private air travel, but former congressional investigators described the arrangement as unusual. Kedric Payne, vice president of the Campaign Legal Center, said lawmakers should explain why the expense was justified. “Congressional ethics rules allow the use of official funds for official travel, but it is very rare for such expenses to include private airfare for staff,” Payne said. “Private jet travel for staff raises many questions, and if this happened, the lawmakers involved owe taxpayers answers.” The spending stands out because Paul has built his political identity around opposing federal waste and deficit spending. His office said he has returned more than $9.2 million from his official budget to the U.S. Treasury. Senate records also show that Paul’s official office used charter aircraft for several Kentucky trips. In October 2024, a flight arranged through New Flight Solutions, which also operates as New Flight Charters, cost $17,847 for a route connecting Bowling Green with Henderson, Marion, Calvert City, Paducah and Fulton. Another trip later that month cost $24,371 and included stops in London, Middlesboro, Harlan, Prestonsburg, Pikeville, Jackson, Ashland, Maysville and Mount Sterling. In June 2025, Paul’s office reported a $14,198 charter flight carrying the senator and three staff members from Bowling Green to Somerset, London and Washington. Other listed charter expenses included $13,351 for travel from Bowling Green to Frederick, Maryland, and $6,990 for a trip from Bowling Green to Ashland. Carmichael said the Kentucky flights allowed Paul to visit more communities during work periods and spend additional time with constituents. Separately, Paul’s campaign committee and leadership political action committee have spent more than $113,000 on private jet travel through New Flight Solutions since 2012, according to the spending review. The use of private aircraft for congressional business is legal, but the disparity between Paul’s charter and the lower-cost travel used by other investigators has intensified questions about how lawmakers justify expenses charged to taxpayers.