A Republican lawmaker overseeing one of Pennsylvania’s poorest congressional districts is awkwardly trying to hide the massive helicopter he allegedly owns for business reasons.
Rep. Rob Bresnahan purchased the helicopter last year when he ran for Congress, NOTUS reported. After getting elected for his first term, however, he’s gone out of his way to put the chopper out of sight.
During his campaign, Bresnahan presented himself as a blue-collar worker who grew up sweeping floors, wiring electrical junction boxes, and driving work trucks.
But the multimillionaire, who recently sold control of his family’s electrical contracting company, owns a 2024 Robinson R66 that typically costs up to $1.5 million. It has not yet appeared in Bresnahan’s personal financial disclosures.
Bresnahan doled out money for the plane in 2024 through a limited liability company titled “RPB Ventures LLC.” According to a NOTUS analysis of surveillance data, the helicopter has made more than two dozen flights originating from the heart of Bresnahan’s district. Several trips crossed state lines to New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.
Bresnahan represents the 8th District of Pennsylvania, which ranks second-to-last in median household income in the state. Only 25 percent of his constituents have earned a bachelor’s degree.
At first, Bresnahan seemed like he could relate.
”Throughout his childhood, Rob’s routine went something like this: Up at 4 a.m. to plow snow for his neighbors, then off to school, followed by hockey practice, then off to help out his mom at the family’s bowling alley or his grandparents at their electrical shop, before finally heading home,” his campaign biography states.
There’s no record of Bresnahan discussing his prized possession.
Average constituents aren’t able to track the helicopter, either. While searching Bresnahan’s chopper on FlightAware, a popular flight tracking website, users get the message: “This aircraft (N422RB) is not available for public tracking per request from the owner/operator.”
Bresnahan’s spokesperson Hannah Pope told NOTUS that Bresnahan bought the aircraft to use for business purposes.
“In emergency situations, such as downed power lines or washed-out roads, helicopters play a critical role in inspecting infrastructure and identifying areas in need of urgent repair,” Pope wrote in a statement. “His goal was to work toward a commercial pilot certificate with a rotorcraft-helicopter rating and use the aircraft to provide emergency response and inspection services that help keep seniors warm, hospitals powered, and schools open.”
But despite Bresnahan buying the helicopter for business, those plans have now been “put on hold,” said Pope.
“Since being elected to Congress, those business plans have been put on hold,” she said. “No taxpayer or campaign funds were used to purchase the aircraft, and no taxpayer or campaign funds are used to store, operate, or maintain the aircraft.”
Bresnahan has long advocated against federal lawmakers buying and selling personal stocks.
“It’s important for your people back in the district and the people that elected you to have total trust in what you’re doing here,” he told NOTUS at the time. “That you’re not doing it for ulterior motives.”
But he’s done quite the opposite since joining Congress. In an interview with WVIA last month, Bresnahan scoffed at the idea that he’d ask his financial advisers to stop trading his stocks for him.
“And then do what with it? Just leave it all in the accounts and just leave it there and lose money and go broke?” he asked, adding that he wants to create a blind trust for his wealth but the ethics process is “prehistoric” and “downright excruciating.”
Bresnahan has disclosed having a helicopter license and his official work in Congress includes oversight of aviation. He sits on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Aviation.
Philip Hensley-Robin, who works for government watchdog organization Common Cause Pennsylvania, said that nobody knows whether the helicopter is being used for “official purposes.”
“It’s incumbent on members of Congress to be transparent about these kinds of things,” he said, adding that the use of the aircraft is a “mystery.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Rep. Bresnahan for comment.
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