VICTOR JOECKS: Ford’s vacation tab tops $140K

Aaron Fords wants to be governor of a state he’s eager to get away from.

As the Review-Journal recently detailed, Attorney General Ford was out of Nevada for more than four months last year. He went to France, Mexico, Macau, Singapore and Taiwan. Domestically, he visited Martha’s Vineyard, the Kentucky Derby and Chicago.

It wasn’t just last year. Nevada requires elected officials to submit information on trips paid for by outside organizations. In 2023, Ford traveled to South Africa, Poland, Israel and South Korea. In 2022, he ventured to Spain. In 2021, he went to Qatar. In 2020, he trekked to Ghana. In 2019, his first year as attorney general, he visited Israel. In 2018, when he was state Senate majority leader, he had organization-funded trips to eight domestic cities, including Seattle and Charleston, S.C., and to Hawaii. In 2017, Ford went to British Columbia and eight other cities, including Napa, California, and Newport, Rhode Island.

These weren’t cheap trips. Several of them had an estimated cost of $15,000 — apiece. The value of all Ford’s trips is more than $140,000. Remember this the next time Ford tries to claim he’s worried about rising prices in Nevada.

Consider his 2023 trip to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. His report shows that he took a household member. It cost $15,000 and was sponsored by the Attorney General Alliance, whose past donors include TikTok, Amazon and Target. The Daily Signal obtained a copy of the AGA’s agenda for its South Africa trip. It included an “educational tour” of South Africa’s “wine estates” and a day at the Aquila Game Reserve, which offers safaris.

The purported purpose of this trip was “AI, gender violence (and) animal trafficking.” Good news. This junket helped Ford stop illegal rhinoceros hunts here in Nevada. What a joke.

These sessions could have been held on Zoom, but everyone sees the legal quid pro quo here. Ford and other attorneys general received a luxurious vacation for which they didn’t have to pay. Lobbyists received unparalleled access to Ford and other attorneys general. These trips are the political equivalent of receiving a free vacation in exchange for listening to a timeshare presentation. Sure, it’s possible to avoid being unduly influenced by lobbyists, but there’s a reason lobbyists keep funding these ventures.

What makes this so bizarre is that Ford has long wanted to be governor. For years, I’ve heard speculation among insiders that Ford thinks he could be president someday. Now, when it comes to politicians, inflated ambitions come with the territory. But one might think that would make Ford extra careful to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Nope.

Sometimes power doesn’t change a person’s character — it reveals it. That certainly appears to be the case here.

Ford hasn’t been a good attorney general, but being attorney general has been good for Ford. Imagine how his travel itinerary will look if he becomes governor.

Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Listen to him discuss his columns each Monday at noon with Kevin Wall on AM 670 KMZQ Right Talk. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.