What Did Adam Steen, Kim Reynolds’ Right Hand Man, Know About Her Secret State Plane?

DES MOINES – New reporting from the Des Moines Register reveals Kim Reynolds used her $4.7 million dollar secret state-owned plane “about once every two weeks over the course of a year” to attend multiple political events on the taxpayer’s dime, raising the question of what Reynolds’ right hand man Adam Steen knew about the plane, when he knew it, and whether he signed off on it.

Steen, a candidate in the GOP gubernatorial primary, served as Reynolds’ director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services and bragged about serving as a “C.O.O. type of role for the state.” As the Register reports, Reynolds used the plane for 20% of its total trips taken and jetsetted to political events under Steen’s watch, including in Sioux City, Decorah, and Fort Dodge. 

Steen has said “I support everything that Governor Reynolds is doing” — did he sign off on these taxpayer-funded political joyrides?

From Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Terra Hernandez:

“Adam Steen worked hand in hand with Kim Reynolds to make state government even more dysfunctional and corrupt, said he supports everything Reynolds is doing, and bragged about being ‘C.O.O.’ of Iowa. Steen must answer what he knew about Reynolds’ secret plane, if he signed off on using taxpayer dollars to buy a multi-million dollar plane, and if he supports Reynolds jetting off to political events on Iowans’ dime.”

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