Lina Khan’s Taxpayer-Funded Joyrides and Partisan Shenanigans Raise Eyebrows

Lina Khan, the former Biden FTC honcho and self-proclaimed corporate greed-slayer, has been caught with her hand in the taxpayer cookie jar, according to a juicy inspector general probe. Khan, who spent her tenure preaching socialist gospel and cozying up to the likes of Zohran Mamdani in New York, apparently thought "public service" meant chauffeured limos and campaign trail pitstops—all on our dime.

The FTC's inspector general, doing a "Charge Card Act review," sniffed out "unusually high expenses for travel." We're talking nearly $19,000 for private car services across 16 trips, plus extra for zipping around D.C. in style. Why, you ask. For the “ease of transportation,” Khan Job said, apparently allergic to cheaper options like, say, a rental car. One gem: a Denver trip where she dropped $1,128 on a chauffeur when a rental would have cost $407. 

But it gets spicier. Khan's luxury rides coincided with what Punchbowl News called her "zig-zagging" the country to hobnob with Dems like Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi in Chicago and Mark Pocan in Wisconsin, just weeks before the 2024 election. "Khan’s events with lawmakers have nominal policy themes…but the timing so near the election is hard to ignore," Punchbowl noted.

Her Chicago jaunt on October 2 showed a cool $1,021 for the car. The following day she spent $2,215 in Madison, Wisconsin. Nothing screams "public servant" like billing taxpayers for campaign-adjacent road trips. The 'servants' never had it so good.

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) was already sounding the alarm in October 2024, writing, "Federal law and FTC ethics rules prohibit you from participating in political events, and from using appropriated funds for any political activity… This concern is particularly significant given your history of ignoring agency ethics advice concerning the appearance of partiality, including ignoring the advice of the agency’s Designated Agency Ethics Official."

 Jordan has a point. Khan's track record on ethics seems shakier than a Jenga tower in a windstorm.

Then there's the Nathaniel Segal saga, which smells like a classic D.C. swamp maneuver. Khan, in the waning hours of Biden's term, shoehorned Segal, a Biden-Harris political operative, into a cushy, non-political FTC gig, overriding staff concerns. Segal, fresh off playing Special Assistant to Biden and Deputy Advisor to Harris, was mysteriously listed as a non-probationary employee, making it harder for Trump's team to fire him. When they fixed that error, Segal allegedly cooked up backdated paperwork to snag a payout from Elon Musk's "Fork in the Road" buyout offer, which he wasn't even eligible for. That little stunt is now under criminal investigation, and it might drag Khan Job into the mess.

As far as Segal's job goes, no record of it was ever posted on USAJobs.gov, despite federal rules requiring public advertising. Sounds like Khan handpicked her Democrat buddy for a civil service role, stiff-arming the public. This is "burrowing" where she slipped her political cronies into career jobs to outlast an administration, and it’s a big no-no without Office of Personnel Management approval, which they don’t have.

Some Biden folks tried to skirt this by creating "three-year term" jobs to plant Dem operatives through most of Trump's term, arguing it's not technically burrowing. But those jobs still need public postings, and they don't qualify for buyouts meant for long-term employees. 

Meanwhile, the FTC was frantically posting other tech jobs, like a cyber adviser at $191,900, an IT specialist at $88,926, and a "Supervisory Information Technology Specialist (Mission Success Manager)" at $195,200, between the election and inauguration. Smells like a last-ditch effort to stack the deck.

Khan, now kicking back at Columbia University, didn't bother responding to requests for comment. How shocking. And while Democrats scream "conspiracy theory" at anyone muttering "deep state," Khan's antics, luxury cars, campaign side-hustles, and shady hires, sure make it hard to dismiss the idea of partisan funny business. 

As I always say, when the swamp smells this bad, it’s not just the humidity.

Hey guys, if you enjoy Brain Flushings, I hope you'll consider supporting my work with a small donation to Buy Me a Coffee. It fuels my late-night writing sessions with fresh ideas. No pressure.

Tweet