Harrison: He did nothing wrong for mileage, gas purchases

State Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Gray, says he did nothing wrong when he charged his campaign more than $25,700 in gas purchases between 2010 and 2013 while getting almost $24,900 in mileage reimbursements from the House during that same time period, according to a review of campaign and legislative records by NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune and WVUE Fox 8 News.
The review found no evidence that Harrison repaid any of his campaign’s gas expenses, according to a May 21 article by Manuel Torres of NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune and Lee Zurik of Fox 8 News/Fox8live.com.
Harrison said he does pay for his staff members’ gas costs out of his campaign funds when those staff members travel for him. He said the mileage reimbursements from his legislative mileage allowance and gas purchases billed to his campaign are a “non-story.”
The Times-Picayune article stated that Harrison billed his campaign and taxpayers a combined $50,639 between 2010 and 2013.
“Lee Zurik did a hit piece on me for no reason, never talked to me, never interviewed me, never met with me on the subject,” Harrison said Monday.
On Thursday, Zurik said, “They read the email that we sent. I have a read receipt to show it, and I showed it to him. We also sent him a letter. We did the same process to at least 15 other lawmakers, and every single other one responded other than him.”
Zurik also traveled to Baton Rouge and interviewed Harrison at the state capitol, he said. Harrison had six days after that interview to get back to reporters with any further information or another interview, and Harrison never did, Zurik said.
“And we still haven’t heard back from him to this day with any other information even though he told us he would get back to us,” Zurik said.
Harrison said he has never misspent anyone’s money and that his staff could answer questions regarding his mileage better than he could.
Much of the miles Harrison travels is for his committee and board positions, which includes the Southern Energy Council, the American Legislative Exchange Council Executive Board, Supreme Court Ad Hoc Committee and Tobacco Sub-Committee, according to Harrison. “I travel a lot just with those,” Harrison said. Harrison is also chairman of the BP Claims Committee and has traveled to many states for that position, he said.
Harrison told reporters in May that he drives 50,000 miles per year, mostly for official duties to represent his district, which includes parts of four south Louisiana parishes between Houma and Morgan City and south of Labadieville, according to the Times-Picayune article.
As a public official, Harrison said his life is an open book. “I’m not going to keep beating the dead horse because … ethics will call you, and everybody else will call you. And I’ve never had an ethics call,” he said.
Harrison wants to stay away from talking further about the issue because “when you get in a fight with a skunk the best you can do is end up smelling like one,” he said. “I’m sick and tired of the innuendoes and the things that were said without any factual information.”
He said all of his travel for legislative purposes is pre-authorized through the House.