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Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp is fighting back, saying media reports of a 400 thousand dollar travel budget are wrong. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the Lt. Governor says the original facts were exaggerated.

Hear to Here: Kottkamp Fights Back

Florida is already paying for two planes and six pilots, and the Lt. Governor says those costs should not be included when figuring the cost of his travel. In an email to supporters, Jeff Kottkamp says reports of spending over four hundred thousand on travel are exaggerated. Back in Tallahassee for the first time since the story broke, Kottkamp says the actual cost over two years was just 86 thousand dollars.

“It is a big state, but we’re very, very aware of the budget situation in the Governor’s office,” Kottkamp said. “We’re trying to be good stewards of the people’s money and, where we can, drive.”

In his email, the Lt. Governor pointed out that as early as 2007, he was urging the state to sell one of its three planes.

The state ended up getting 1.35 million for one of two King Airs it owned last November.

Usually quick to pile on, state Democrats have yet to utter a word of criticism for the travel. Asked if he was satisfied with his second in command’s explanation, Charlie Crist responded:

“I am. I am.”

The Lt. Governor has sent the state a check for just over 66 hundred dollars to cover travel for his wife and young son, even though state policy when they traveled in 2007 did not require payment.