Wandering Peg

When Peggy A. Lautenschlager was the United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, from September, 1993 to April 2001, she did a considerable amount of traveling at the taxpayers' expense. Her journeys took her from such exotic locales as Tomah, Wisconsin (October 8, 1997; $60.76) to Sedona, Arizona (February 3-5, 1999;$1117.74) and to many points in between and beyond.
Altogether, Lautenschlager claimed $30,378.89 in her travel vouchers during the period of October, 1996 to April, 2001, according to a review of records provided by the Department of Justice after a long, long wait. [The records received did not indicate any travel between the time of her appointment in 1993 until 1996. It can not be determined if this is because Ms. Lautenschlager did not travel, or if it was because the DOJ did not include this information, although it was requested.--Ed.]
She took 19 trips to Washington, D.C. from 1996 to 2001, usually to attend "meetings" and "conferences."
She met and conferred at such places as Portland, Oregon (Halloween, 1996; $774.11), Santa Fe, NM (May, 1997; $667.20), New Orleans (March, 1998; $563.40), Memphis (May, 1998; $521.70), Tucson (June, 1999; $590.70), Columbia, SC ("training," October, 1999; $1121), San Francisco (February, 2000; $316.26), Keystone, Colorado (June 2000; $755.26), Boston (September, 2000; $1645.01), and Cambridge, MA ("training," December, 2000; $1156.65), to mention just a few.
Lautenschlager also made many trips by automobile throughout the state of Wisconsin, claiming her 31 cents per mile for expenses. On the road, she also received $21 per day for "subsistence."
--Michael Horne, with research by Leslie Stewart, Jr., a graduate student at Marquette University.