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Using data provided by LegiStorm, Times reporters culled through more than 1,100 travel disclosures and found that while privately financed travel is down since the imposition of ethics rules limiting them, lobbyists and industry seem to be exploiting loopholes in the rules to ensure continued access to lawmakers.

The Times also found that some lobbying organizations and companies finance congressional travel indirectly by giving money to nonprofits - a trend which LegiStorm has reported on before.

For example, when Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) and his wife in 2009 traveled to Liechtenstein and Germany on the dime of several European companies, many of which lobby in the U.S., they did so with the approval of the House ethics committee. These sponsors paid for Sensenbrenner and his wife to visit a vineyard and a castle, and to spend an afternoon at an Alpine ski resort. The trip was organized by the International Management and Development Institute, a nonprofit organization. On his disclosure form, Sensenbrenner lists the purpose of the travel as meetings "with counterparts in German Bundestag about Financial Crisis/Ministry of Justice," as well as meetings with U.S. embassy officials. Since the sponsoring organization does not retain a lobbyist directly, even though its president is himself a registered lobbyist, rules limiting lobbyist-sponsored travel did not apply. Several big companies had opportunities to meet with lawmakers throughout the weeklong trip.