Sean Duffy’s Road Trip Series Was Supposed To Be Out By Now. So Where Is It?

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said his reality-TV-themed family road trip video series would premiere in June.

But June has passed and the series is nowhere to be found.

The mystery surrounding the delayed debut for Duffy’s “The Great American Road Trip” is just the latest headache for the sitting Cabinet member’s unorthodox venture into long-form video, which has faced ethics questions, criticism from Democrats and calls for investigations since being announced as a patriotic celebration of America before its 250th birthday.

The five-part series was scheduled to begin last month on YouTube, Duffy said in May, and a trailer for the show included glimpses of the Liberty Bell, Boston’s Fenway Park, Kid Rock and an Oval Office meeting between Duffy’s family and President Donald Trump. But now it’s unclear when the road trip will leave the parking lot.

Tori Barnes, head of theDelaware-incorporated nonprofit that paid for the cross-country series’ production costs, in a statement to POLITICO on Tuesday indicated the show’s rollout might not be imminent.

“We are excited that the Great American Road Trip Series will be released in the coming weeks and we look forward to Americans and visitors alike,” she said, “being inspired to take a road trip of their own as we celebrate America’s 250th birthday all year long.”

Transportation Department spokesperson Nate Sizemore in a Tuesday statement suggested that the series will be released shortly, but didn’t provide a date.

“We appreciate Politico’s excitement counting down the days until the episodes drop. We’re putting the finishing touches on the production and look forward to sharing it with the American people soon,” he said.

DOT has not made Duffy available for an interview with POLITICO.

DOT has said the series was filmed with Duffy’s family during brief stops over the course of several months this year and last, including amid the fall’s federal shutdown.

No taxpayer dollars were spent on his family, DOT has said, and celebrating the semiquincentennial is part of Duffy’s “official duties” — and the road trip is “one aspect in support of those responsibilities.”

“Our motto was ‘to love America is to see America,’” Duffy said during a Fox & Friends appearance on May 8 with his wife, TV personality Rachel Campos-Duffy, who is a weekend co-host on the network.

Since then, it’s been anything but smooth pavement for the show.

‘Pay for play’ accusation

Duffy’s announcement came amid a monthslong surge in gas prices following the U.S. attack on Iran, leading to criticism on social media among some Democrats, who viewed the trip as tone deaf.

Meanwhile, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked DOT’s acting inspector general to launch a probe into Duffy’s involvement in the series, noting that the sponsors of Barnes’ nonprofit include companies that DOT regulates, such as Boeing and Toyota.

The inspector general’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Duffy, a former member of Congress, also sparred with some Senate Democrats over the series during a hearing in May. Those included Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who said that “in our jobs that would be pay for play.”

Afterward, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Patty Murray of Washington state, joined five colleagues in requesting an investigation by DOT’s acting inspector general.

POLITICO, meanwhile, has reported that a would-be sponsor of the road trip balked at the ethical implications of seeming to buy access to Duffy, declining to participate, and that at least two ex-House staffers of Duffy’s serve on the board of the nonprofit, Great American Road Trip Inc.

One of those board members is a spokesperson for the campaign of Michael Alfonso, Duffy’s son-in-law, who’s running for Duffy’s old seat in northwest Wisconsin. Alfonso appeared in the series’ trailer.

The other board member has lobbied for a national security company that late last year won a major Federal Aviation Administration contract.

All the while, DOT and Barnes have defended the endeavor, with the latter saying the nonprofit has “complied with all laws and guidelines that are required and will continue to do so.”

The department has said that DOT ethics attorneys cleared Duffy’s involvement, and he and his family didn’t receive a salary nor royalties.