$300K BLOWOUT: AG Campbell’s Global Spending Spree on the Taxpayer Dime

Friday, July 25, 2025
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MDN Staff
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$300K BLOWOUT: AG Campbell’s Global Spending Spree on the Taxpayer Dime

Flights to France, coffee in the Caribbean, burrito feasts in Boston — Andrea Campbell’s office spent nearly $300,000 last year while voters wait for an audit she won’t enforce.

BOSTON — Fancy chauffeurs in Paris. Island snacks in St. Thomas. Catering from Anna’s Taqueria. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell didn’t exactly pinch pennies last fiscal year — and taxpayers picked up the tab.

That’s according to a Boston Herald investigation, which revealed Campbell’s office spent a staggering $288,146.26 on state-issued procurement cards between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025.

Among the highlights:

  • $13,627 for a trip to France, including luxury transportation in Paris and Normandy
  • $2,060 Delta Air charge associated with Brussels (though the AG’s office claims no charges occurred there)
  • A stop in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the only listed expense was a $49 airport snack
  • $1,220 in catering from Anna’s Taqueria for a holiday party
  • $1,287 for a dinner at the Dubliner to celebrate a State Police drug bust

Campbell has taken no action on the audit of the Massachusetts Legislature — a ballot measure approved by 72% of voters last November.

But she’s had no issue finding reasons to travel.

According to the Herald, the France trip was hosted by the Attorney General Alliance and the National Association of Attorneys General. The event was billed as a tribute to the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Campbell brought along a Massachusetts State Police trooper and a staffer, spending nearly $9,000 on high-end transport through Avis Chauffeur.

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The Caribbean trip, to St. Thomas, was for the Attorney General Alliance’s annual meeting. Only one meal charge — $49 at a coffee stand in the airport — appeared in the state’s expense records. The full cost of the trip has not yet been disclosed.

Also in the P-card logs:

  • $10,286 for overflow hotel space during a Boston cybercrime conference
  • $548 for a Calgary hotel, where a staffer attended a deposition (Campbell did not go)

All told, the AG’s office had expenditures in 31 states last fiscal year — including charges in California, Canada, and even Disney World.

Meanwhile, the office’s budget jumped by $9 million this year to help it “fight the Trump administration.”

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The audit that voters actually approved? Still collecting dust.

Paul Diego Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance summed it up:

“The taxpayers are footing the bill for the Attorney General’s expensive junkets. She’s reaping the reward for not auditing the Legislature, which got her a larger budget to spend on highbrow trips.”

Campbell’s office has not disclosed how frequently she or her staff use P-cards while traveling.

But the receipts are already in — and they don’t look good.

Have a tip? Email us at tips@massdailynews.com

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