It's getting harder and harder for Sen. Lugar to put the residency controversy behind him:
Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar’s residency problems just grew more uncomfortable: He’s reimbursing the Treasury for erroneously billing taxpayers for a series of hotel stays in Indianapolis in recent years.
The long-serving Senate Republican said because of staff errors, taxpayer money was improperly used to pay for about $4,500 in hotel expenses over the past decade.
[. . .]
Since records were only available dating to 1991, Lugar said “it’s conceivable” that the problems stemmed throughout the breadth of his career, which started in 1977. But he insisted the problem occurred “infrequently,” attributing the issue to staff members over the years handling the issue differently.
This involves subjective interpretartions of an obscure set of Senate guidelines about "usual places of residence" and so-called "duty stations," so Lugar can sound reasonably defending what are technical violations of complicated regulations. But it reinforces the image being pushed by Democrats and primary opponent Richard Mourdock of a visiting dignitary who has to stay in hotels when he comes "home."
