Columba Bush's big spending may harm husband's White House hopes

In 1999, Columba Bush, the famously private wife of then-Florida Governor Jeb Bush, was detained and fined by federal customs officials for misrepresenting the amount of clothing and jewellery she had bought while on a solo five-day shopping spree in Paris.

The incident left the Florida first lady deeply mortified and her husband politically chagrined. Jeb Bush said the first lady had misled customs officials because she did not want him to know that she had spent about US$19,000 on the trip.

"The embarrassment I felt made me ashamed to face my family and friends," Columba Bush said not long after the incident. "It was the worst feeling I've ever had in my life."

The ordeal did not stop her from spending freely. Less than a year later, she took out a loan to buy US$42,311.70 worth of jewellery on a single day, according to records filed with the state of Florida by Mayors Jewellers.

That purchase was part of a pattern by Columba Bush of borrowing to buy tens of thousands of dollars of jewellery at a time from the South Florida store over a 14-year period. Documentation available online, which does not include the details of two transactions made less than six weeks apart in 1995, shows that she spent a total of more than US$90,000 at the store.

Jeb Bush's political team insisted her tastes and shopping habits should not be an issue. "Mrs Bush bought jewellery from time to time from Mayors Jewellers over the years. Though not required to be reported, these purchases in 2000 were included as accounts payable on Governor Bush's financial disclosure that year, and paid off the next," Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell said.