Kentucky Auditor Finds ‘Concerning Luxury’ Spending By Democrat Governor
Kentucky’s Republican auditor recently spoke to Fox News Digital regarding a report she released that highlights concerns about excessive spending in the state’s executive branch led by Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, who is widely perceived to have presidential ambitions in the future.
Allison Ball issued a report earlier this month detailing spending by the executive branch for fiscal year 2025, which was entered into the state’s system. She flagged issues that demonstrate extravagant spending of tax dollars that “needs to stop.”
The “concerning expenditures” listed include $183,576 in out-of-state travel costs, which encompass $7,632 for a limousine in Germany, $17,013 for a dinner at a Kentucky distillery, and $360,000 for 75 people attending a two-day conference within the Commonwealth, Fox News reported.
“We saw some really excessive, really worrying and questionable expenditures,” Ball told Fox News Digital.
“For example, one of the things we saw is that the governor and the tourism cabinet spent about $338,000 on a nonprofit called First Saturday in May. So, for people who are not from Kentucky, the first Saturday in May is when the [Kentucky] Derby happens. So, that money actually went to events for VIPs to come in and celebrate and observe the Derby,” she added.
Ball stated that the spending data was entered by the executive branch into the Commonwealth’s eMARS system. While she recognizes that elected officials may need to allocate more funds for security than ordinary citizens, she classified much of the flagged spending as “luxury items.”
“I absolutely think the governor needs security. We want people to be safe. We don’t want anything to happen to our elected officials,” Ball explained. “But this is the time when you look at, OK, are you spending an excessive amount? And I think $7,000 for limo services in Germany, $5,000 to navigate the airport in Switzerland, hotels like in Beverly Hills, Aspen.
“We even found an expenditure in the hundreds of dollars for something called the Caribou Club, which is a private club in Aspen. So, these expenses are essentially luxury items when you’re looking at where they’re at and the amount of money that’s being paid,” she said.
Beshear was critical of the auditor and her report in comments to local media.
“They never asked us any questions, and you have to do that if it’s an audit report,” Beshear recently told WHAS-11. “All they did was take lines, and they didn’t ask questions because if they had gotten the answers, they couldn’t have done the political attack that it was.”
Ball said it’s “no surprise” when elected officials push back on reports like hers, “but my job is about transparency.”
Ball’s report highlighted $39 million in expenditures by the executive branch’s advertising divisions across various departments, over $7 million in out-of-state travel, more than $23 million on in-state travel, and over $16 million allocated for training sessions, conferences, food, and trade shows.
“It’s a budget year, and this is when the General Assembly is actually crafting what money they’re going to appropriate through all levers of state government. And that’s why they asked us, this is early in the process, and they wanted to know, ‘OK, what is the executive branch spending its money on?” Ball explained.
“And they specifically asked us about travel. They asked about conferences. They ask us about food and beverage because those are the things usually that can get out of control quick if you’re not paying close attention. So, we’re here just to provide information,” she went on.
Governor Beshear informed CNN last summer that he was considering a presidential bid for 2028. Many believe he could be a strong candidate due to his popularity as a Democrat in the deeply conservative state of Kentucky.
The Hill reported that Beshear confirmed he is still contemplating a run, but he will not make a final decision until his term as governor concludes in late 2027.
Top DHS Special Agent And His Wife Found Dead
A Department of Homeland Security special agent and his wife were found dead in their New Jersey home in what appears to be a murder-suicide, prosecutors said.
Police in Sayreville responded to the couple’s home on Glynn Court around 8 p.m. July 3 and found Kelly Latauro, 46, dead inside the residence, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Her husband, 52-year-old Christopher Latauro, was discovered dead in the backyard.
Both appear to have been shot.
Authorities said Christopher is believed to be the shooter and the case is being investigated as a murder-suicide.
Police told residents to keep away from Glynn Court, from Deerfield Road to Scarlet Drive, briefly because of police activity.
The area was reopened about 40 minutes later, but police remained on scene.
According to NJ101.5, citing DHS records from 2019 and 2020, Christopher was a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security.
Authorities have not said what may have sparked the violence.
Kelly’s sister-in-law Robyn Perlman-Spencer confirmed her death in a Facebook post on July 7, remembering her in a heartbreaking tribute.
“As many of you may now know, my beautiful sister in law Kelly Iatauro was senselessly and suddenly taken from us on Friday. Kelly was a bright light- kind, thoughtful, hysterical, inappropriate, and just one of the most amazing people I’ve ever known. She left a lasting impression on anyone that was lucky enough to know her,” Robyn wrote in part.
Sayreville police confirmed officers responded to the Glynn Court residence on July 3 and found both people dead of gunshot wounds.
The incident is being treated as a murder-suicide, and Christopher is suspected to be the shooter, the spokesperson said.
The Department of Homeland Security and Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment on the case.
What began as a heavy police response to a deadly scene left two people dead and the quiet Middlesex County neighborhood stunned.
Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened inside the home leading up to the gunfire.
Separately, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin made headlines last week with an election-related announcement.
Mullin on Friday said officials who don’t cooperate with the administration’s election security efforts may be slapped with fines — and potentially prison time.
“If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections — and they chose not to — then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending on how far it goes, prison time,” Mullin said during a press conference at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Mullin also promised DHS would work to “speed up our security enhancements” for states.
He vowed to hold up federal election security grants until state officials took steps the administration demanded, including running their voter registration lists through a system that checks for non-citizen voters on the rolls.
Mullin made his comments after President Donald Trump’s primetime address on election security Thursday night, when he repeated already known concerns about the security of voting systems, alleged Chinese efforts to get into voter rolls, and aired old gripes about the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
In his remarks on Friday, the DHS secretary focused on DHS’s work with states to secure election systems and scrub voter registration rolls for fraud and concerns about noncitizen voting.
The Justice Department also sent letters this month threatening prosecution to election officials across the country if they don’t remove noncitizens from their voter rolls.
On Friday, Mullin seemed to suggest that the agency was able to estimate the numbers using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and said 23 states are already working with DHS to analyze voter rolls.
And he criticized the legal challenges that are hindering the administration’s efforts: Last month, a judge blocked the Trump administration from creating a database of information about Americans, including Social Security numbers and citizenship status.
