Duckworth's VA office spent nearly $100k on 'media training'

Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Democratic candidate for Senate in Illinois, presided over the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs when it spent nearly $100,000 on media training in 2010 and 2011.

The pair of media training contracts were just a few of the questionable expenditures that took place under her leadership at the VA. While wasteful spending and lax oversight are endemic to the entire agency, Duckworth’s Republican opponent, Sen. Mark Kirk, has focused heavily on controversies stemming from her years at the VA.