Despite earlier furor, Palin shopping continued

[December 06, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Despite the furor over a $150,000 campaign shopping spree for GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the Republican Party continued to spend money on clothing and accessories for her in the contest's final weeks, new campaign reports show.

The latest buys ranged from $4,383 at Saks Fifth Avenue and $2,130 at Nieman Marcus, to $148 at Victoria's Secret locations in Philadelphia and Cincinnati. Another $430 was spent at Aldo, a shoe store. The buys were listed under the heading of "campaign accessories."

The party also paid $55,700 in "consulting" fees to Lisa Kline & Co., a New York fashion stylist. And the McCain-Palin presidential campaign, which was funded with $84 million in tax dollars under the presidential public campaign financing system, dispensed $34,384 to Amy Strozzi, a celebrity makeup artist. The campaign had previously paid Strozzi $36,000, disclosed in earlier campaign finance reports.

Party spokesman Alex Conant said the expenditures listed in the party's October and December reports "were the result of coordinated expenditures at the campaign's direction."

"Accessories have been returned, inventoried, and will be appropriately dispersed to various charities," Conant said.

[Associated Press]

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