Sen. Mary Landrieu made headlines last November when she hitched a ride home on Air Force One with President Obama , but chose not to attend his event in New Orleans . Another lesser-known flight Landrieu took that same day mistakenly cost taxpayers more than $ 3,000 . CNN has learned that the vulnerable Louisiana Democrat used government money to charter a private plane to travel to a campaign fundraiser , in violation of federal law . Landrieu spent more than $ 3,200 in taxpayer money to fly 400 miles round trip from New Orleans to Lake Charles , Louisiana , where she attended a $ 40-per person fundraising lunch with hundreds of women , according to Senate records and Landrieu campaign information . It is illegal to spend government money campaigning . Landrieu 's campaign spokesman , Fabien Levy , said in a statement that the charter company mistakenly billed Landrieu 's Senate office instead of her re-election campaign . Levy said the campaign noticed the error a few weeks ago and asked the company to refund the Senate office and bill the campaign , which the company did . Levy said Landrieu 's re-election campaign paid for the flight August 4 , almost nine months after the November 8 trip . `` We take our finances very seriously and are glad we caught the vendor 's mistake and were able to rectify the matter as soon as possible , '' Levy said . The campaign did n't notice the mistake until July 29 . Two days later , on July 31 , USA Today published a story showing that Landrieu was one of the Senate 's most frequent fliers , spending $ 47,000 last year on taxpayer-funded charter flights . Levy told CNN that media scrutiny of Senate office expense reports spurred the campaign to review its travel records . Even though the mistake was corrected , the campaign still violated federal law and could face civil fines , said Paul S. Ryan , senior counsel at the Campaign Legal Center , a nonpartisan campaign watchdog . `` It is the senator and the senator 's staff responsibility to comply with federal laws . It 's not the job of the vendor , per se , '' Ryan said . `` It sounds like their excuse is , 'We did n't do anything wrong ; it 's the vendor . ' It 's the job of the senator and her staff not to pay bills out of a Senate office account if those bills were not for Senate business . '' Ryan argued that even though Landrieu fixed the error , the law should still be enforced . `` If senators were allowed to pay for their campaign expenses out of taxpayer dollars that challengers do n't have access to , that 's a major unfair advantage to incumbents , '' he said . Landrieu took the charter flight the same day Obama delivered a speech on the economy in New Orleans . The senator cited her busy schedule as the reason she did n't accompany the President in her hometown . `` I was hosting a lunch in Lake Charles for 300 women and I was n't going to stand them up . I 'm sorry I could n't be with the President , '' she told CNN 's Wolf Blitzer a few days later . At the time , Obama was under fire for the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov and breaking his promise that people could keep their health insurance coverage under Obamacare . Landrieu 's decision not to attend his event was widely seen as an acknowledgment that the President , who was already deeply unpopular in Louisiana , was a political liability for the vulnerable Democrat , especially since she cast a pivotal vote in support of Obamacare . 2013 : Jesse Jackson Jr. , wife plead guilty to charges involving campaign funds .
$ 3,200 plane flight bill paid from Senate budget instead of campaign account . Landrieu 's office says vendor billed wrong account , mistake has been fixed . Aide says media scrutiny of expense reports spurred a review of travel records .