Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst says Pelosi and others cost taxpayers nearly $10,000 each for trip to Copenhagen travel summit

In an e-mail blast, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a Republican, told supporters that spending in Washington is out of control.

Dewhurst spiced his Tuesday e-mail with a reference to the Democratic House speaker, stating that “during the recent global warming summit in Copenhagen, Nancy Pelosi and others stayed at a five-star hotel on a trip costing nearly $10,000 per person.”

The House speaker living large in Denmark? We checked into that.

Dewhurst’s campaign pointed us to a USA Today post online reflecting on a report by CBS News, which reviewed travel vouchers filed by Pelosi’s office after the international climate summit in December. A summary of the travel vouchers filed by Pelosi’s office states that air fare, food and lodging costs for 57 people including Pelosi added up to $553,564. That works out to $9,711 per person.

CBS found that a factor in the travel costs was that the host hotel, a five-star Marriott, required guests to pay for six nights’ stay even if they were staying two nights, as Pelosi did. CBS also said that in fairness, “many attendees told us they did a lot of hard work, and laid the groundwork for a future global treaty.”

Pelosi’s food and lodging expenses totaled $4,406 (she, like many, took a military jet to the summit). She declined to discuss the trip costs, CBS said.

Pelosi personally accounted for less than 10 percent of the costs reported by her office for dozens of individuals. Still, Dewhurst correctly summarized the overall per-person travel costs.

We rate Dewhurst’s statement as True.