Indian Museum Director Spent Lavishly on Travel

Video

Smithsonian Funds Expensive Retirement Video

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said West kept up with his Smithsonian duties while he was in Oregon. "During this month," St. Thomas said, "he talked to his museum staff daily and kept up with e-mails and cellphone calls."

St. Thomas said West did not charge the Smithsonian for his initial flight to Oregon and his final trip home.

The Post's review showed that West often charged for trips to New Mexico, where he has said he might move during his retirement.

One excursion to Santa Fe in 2005 included a six-day stopover in Park City, Utah, to attend the Sundance Film Festival, where West dined with Sundance's founder, actor Robert Redford. West and his wife, Mary Beth, billed the Smithsonian $440 per night for lodging during the Sundance trip.

All the trips were authorized by Burke, the institution's chief operating officer, according to St. Thomas, who said she spoke with Burke yesterday. Burke did not return phone calls seeking comment.

West's total compensation as of 2004 was $292,000 a year, according to the institution's tax returns. West's former law partner and longtime friend Kevin Gover, a former Clinton administration appointee, took over as head of the museum on Dec. 3 after West supported his appointment.

"I am grateful," West said, "for at least the past year to have been the highest-paid director of a museum in the Smithsonian. Even at that status I have yet to earn even two-thirds of what I earned as a private attorney in my last year" in private practice.

Stepped-Up Scrutiny

The disclosures about West's travel have come in a year in which Congress and its investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office, have criticized the Smithsonian for permitting a $2.5 billion backlog of physical-plant projects to accumulate, including leaks in the museum's Suitland facility.

Although West's spending continued even after Congress this year stepped up oversight of the Smithsonian, e-mails obtained by The Post show that West and his staff became increasingly wary about how his spending would be perceived if it was made public.

After Small resigned, West and others inside the Smithsonian became more sensitive to the "appropriate concern that recently has been expressed by the Congress over the handling of expenses by the Smithsonian," according to a memo from West to the Smithsonian's general counsel.

An authorized $20,000 West trip to Zagreb was canceled, according to Smithsonian records. West said the trip went forward but was paid for by the State Department. Also, West said some months ago he ceased using chauffeured cars, saying their use "was not appropriate from an appearances standpoint."

West's past trips show a pattern of Smithsonian-paid travel near Palo Alto, Calif., where he served on the Stanford board. He made seven trips to Palo Alto and five to nearby San Francisco -- often stopovers during extensive trips, sometimes overseas. One reason given for one of the California trips, for example, was "donor meetings."