Records: RNC spent $150K on Palin clothing

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The Republican National Committee spent more than $150,000 on new clothes for U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her family, records show.

Financial disclosure records indicate the RNC spent $49,000 on clothes and accessories for the Alaska governor at Saks Fifth Avenue stores in St. Louis and New York as well as $75,000 at a Neiman Marcus store in Minneapolis, the Washington publication Politico reported Wednesday.

The expenditures raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under Federal Elections Commission advisories against using political contributions for personal expenses, Politico said.

After first declining to answer questions about the clothes spending, GOP officials issued a statement saying, "With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses. It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."

Politico said its review of similar records for the campaign of Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and the Democratic National Committee turned up no similar spending.