Grassley rips DOJ for event costs

In all, the audit found that Justice spent $121 million on 1,832 conferences in the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years.

{mosads}The audit examined 10 Justice events in detail from those fiscal years, and found other examples of seemingly wasteful spending besides the $16 muffins cited by Grassley: Dinners costing upwards of $65 per person, well above per diem levels; cans of soda costing $5.57; and a conference where 66 participants received $30 per day of refreshments including popcorn, candy bars and ice cream.

Generally speaking, Justice officials agreed with recommendations from its inspector general, including that event planners used cost-benefit analysis to figure out whether free meeting areas that require food and drink purchases are worth the cost.