Former Benton County Commissioner Claude Oliver on Tuesday defended a 2008 trip to attend a conference in Chicago, saying it was in the county's best interest and meant to stimulate support to re-open the Fast Flux Test Reactor at Hanford.

The trip, in late June and early July, cost the county $2,123. A state audit of 2008 expenses called the county-paid trip into question, saying it "appeared to have no clear county purpose and no clear majority of commissioner approval was gained."

Oliver attended the 2008 RainbowPUSH Coalition Conference in Chicago to discuss medical isotopes. Oliver has long been a supporter of re-activating the Fast Flux Test Facility, which had been looked at to produce medical isotopes.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who founded the RainbowPUSH Coalition, participated in a medical isotope symposium in the Tri-Cities in March 2008. Oliver was later invited to attend the Chicago conference to participate in a panel discussion on nuclear energy.

In an e-mail to the Herald on Tuesday, Oliver called the audit's questioning of his trip a "racially motivated allegation."

Oliver said that once his fellow commissioners heard he was "going to the RainbowPUSH Coalition at the request of Jesse Jackson ... they questioned it publicly."

Commissioner Max Benitz Jr. had no comment after hearing Oliver's statement about a "racially motivated allegation."

Commissioner Leo Bowman laughed when he was told of Oliver's comment.

"I don't know how to respond to that," he said. "It's ridiculous. It's totally ridiculous."

Bowman went on to say, "There's no way in the world" that he or Benitz's questioning of the trip's funding "was racially motivated."

Bowman said Jackson's name only was mentioned in connection with the trip because he believed, "Commissioner Oliver felt a relationship with Mr. Jackson would enhance an effort to revive the (Fast Flux Test Facility)."

Oliver said he wants to discuss the Chicago trip publicly with county commissioners, the public and the media.