International Periscope

White House: Tripping
As the U.S. Congress debates a crackdown on members' and their staffs' accepting travel paid for by outside interests, newly filed records show Capitol Hill lawmakers aren't Washington's only frequent fliers. According to filings with the Office of Government Ethics, White House staffers have accepted nearly $135,000 in free trips since November 2004. Among those picking up the tab: some of the president's top business supporters and dozens of conservative and religious groups. Records list most trips as speaking engagements or panel discussions—including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove's $2,600 trip to Aspen last September, where he attended a two-day retreat sponsored by financier Ted Forstmann. Al Hubbard, Bush's top economic adviser, also visited Colorado, reporting a $4,276 trip in June 2005 paid for by the American Enterprise Institute. Bush aides listed trips as far away as Norway, Germany, Latvia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Australia, where Rove aide Barry Jackson reported a $15,483 jaunt to Sydney to attend a conference on Australian-U.S. relations. The most frequent traveler: Tim Goeglein, a White House point man for conservative groups, who reported $30,000 in free travel, including five trips last year to his hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino says travel is part of "regular outreach," noting that all staffers were invited guests.

—Holly Bailey