Marco Rubio's campaign releases two years of American Express statements

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Marco Rubio's campaign releases two years of American Express statements revealing fancy business dinners, personal expenses and $250 in late fees after The Donald suggested he was hiding something
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On Saturday, Marco Rubio's campaign released 22 months of American Express statements
A majority are in line with political business expenses, but Rubio has been criticized for using the card for personal expenses too
Personal expenses included $3,700 to a tiling company that Rubio accidentally put on the AmEx card and a hotel and rental car in Vegas

By Nikki Schwab, U.s. Political Reporter For Dailymail.com

Published: 17:01 EST, 8 November 2015 | Updated: 18:57 EST, 8 November 2015

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As Marco Rubio's stock rises among Republican primary voters, the Florida senator is trying to show that his finances are clean as a whistle.

Yesterday, he released almost two years of American Express credit card statements from the time he served as speaker-designate and then speaker of the Florida House, a position that sent him on fundraising trips around the state and country.

Beyond $250 in late fees that Rubio incurred, the new bills show some expenses that were previously unreported, but the majority are in line with what a politician would spend money on during business trips.

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Marco Rubio's campaign says the Florida Senator has nothing to hide and thus released 22 months of American Express bills that previously were unreleased

Marco Rubio's expenses were pretty typical for a political fundraiser, but he was criticized for using the corporate card for personal expenses too - including a hotel and rental car in Vegas

Rubio's use of the card for some personal expenses has opened the door to criticism.

'For years I've heard about Marco and his credit cards,' said Donald Trump, according to NBC News. 'And I'll be honest with you, I think that he's got a problem there.'

A presentation created by Jeb Bush's campaign also brings up Rubio's misuse of credit cards, but the former Florida governor denied ever seeing the documentation. Instead Bush attacked his former protegee, at the last Republican debate, for missing Senate votes.

The charges were investigated in 2012 by a Florida ethics panel and Rubio's name was cleared.

An independent audit committee of the Florida GOP also wrote that Rubio's expenses were legitimate, however, as Democratic-supporting PAC American Bridge pointed out, a Republican Party of Florida manual said credit card transactions were to be business-only.

The candidate has expressed regret. 'It was a mistake,' he said. 'If I had to do it over again, I'd do it very differently.'

Not for doing anything wrong, Rubio contends, but for creating confusion.

'When the statements were later leaked during my Senate campaign, they invited press skepticism, confused some of the public and allowed an opponent to suggest the party had paid for personal expenses,' Rubio wrote in his book, An American Son. 'As often as it is remarked, it always bears repeating: in politics appearances are as important as reality.'

The new statements for Rubio's Republican Party of Florida American Express card cover the period from January 2005 to October 2006.

In all, Rubio had the card for about four years, until December 2008.

The Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Herald had previously made the latter statements public during Rubio's 2010 Senate run, a gift from Democratic rival Charlie Crist.

When Marco Rubio was running for Senate in 2010 credit card statements were leaked to the press and became politically problematic for the young politician

The new batch show that Rubio spent almost $65,000 in 22 months. Of the 484 charges, eight of them were personal totaling $7,243.74.

Of those charges, one was accidental.

Rubio paid more than $3,700 to a tiling company.

'I pulled the wrong card from my wallet to pay for pavers,' Rubio explained in An American Son, according to NBC.

Rubio paid $3,756.24 to cover the expense in the next billing period, his campaign said.

He also put $1,745 on the card for a hotel and rental car after he stuck around Las Vegas after a business trip for a quick vacation.

'Marco paid his personal charges directly to American Express,' his campaign said. 'The Republican Party of Florida did not pay for any of Marco's personal expenses. Further, taxpayer funds were not used for any political or personal charges on the card.'

He also personally paid the $250 in late fees, NBC noted.

The campaign tried to provide receipts to show Rubio's personal expenses being paid through personal accounts.

Business expenses included fancy dinners at Tao in New York and hotel rooms in Las Vegas and Disney World

'The charges show the perks of professional politicking as well as the pitfalls encountered by the at-times financially careless young legislator during a boom-time economy,' wrote Marc Caputo in Politico.