Lawmakers take Vegas trip on lobbyist dime

Roll Call digs into the travel disclosure reports of lawmakers who attended CES last month and finds about a dozen used loopholes allowing them to extend what is normally a one-day business trip into a four day junket all the while Consumer Electronics Association — who employs federal lobbyists — picked up the bulk of the tab:

Travel disclosure reports filed with the House Ethics Committee show that participants used an exemption that permits additional travel time to far-off locations and paid their own hotel bills for an extra day or two, allowing them to spend several days in Vegas and still accept round-trip airfare and other expenses from the association — exactly what a 2007 rules change was supposed to eliminate.