Judicial Watch: Secret Service Hotel Bills For Obama Family’s 2014 August Vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, Christmas Vacation in Honolulu Cost Taxpayers $1,243,057

Obama family vacation travel expenses and Secret Service accommodations for the two 2014 vacations cost taxpayers a total of $5,316,522.10.

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that on January 15, 2016, it obtained records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealing that the August 2014 Martha’s Vineyard and Christmas 2014 Honolulu vacations for President Barack Obama and his family cost taxpayers $1,243,057.80 for Secret Service accommodations alone.

According to the newly obtained records, accommodations provided by Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Reservations for the Secret Service detail accompanying the Obama family on their two-week Martha’s Vineyard vacation in August 2014 cost taxpayers a total of $946,435.  The documents show that “GSA Lodging variance” was obtained in order to approve the high costs of accommodations in the “high season” of travel in Martha’s Vineyard.  The documents provide no other details about the Secret Service accommodations.

Accommodations for the Secret Service detail accompanying the Obama family on their December-to-January Christmas Honolulu vacation cost taxpayers $296,622.80, which includes but is not limited to: $39,575.95 at Paradise Luxury Rentals; $34,827.57 at The Kahala; and $209,218.25 at Cabana Girl LLC.

The Secret Service accommodations records are the second set documents Judicial Watch has released revealing Obama 2014 vacation expenses. In March 2015, Judicial Watch released  records from the U.S. Department of the Air Force revealing that the Obama family’s 2014 Christmas vacation to Honolulu cost taxpayers $3,672,798 in flight expenses alone.

In March 2015, Judicial Watch also released documents revealing that transportation expenses for the Obama family 2014 vacation to Martha’s Vineyard was $400,666.30. That brought the total flight expenses for the two 2014 Obama family vacations to $4,073,464.30.

Taken together, the Obama family travel and Secret Service accommodations for the 2014 Martha’s Vineyard and Christmas Honolulu vacations cost taxpayers a total of $5,316,522.10.

The Obama family stayed at a luxurious Kailua mansion where, according to the London Telegraph: “Beyond the lawn lies the famous beach, up which the waves roll majestically, 24 hours a day. Surfers come from far and wide to Kailua, one of the best breaks in the United States, if not the world.”

In Martha’s Vineyard, while the Obama family stayed in a in a plush, secluded seven-bedroom, nine-bath, 8,100-square-foot house in the exclusive Chilmark neighborhood.  According to Fox News, during earlier Obama family Martha’s Vineyard vacations, Secret Service agents stayed in the Oak Bluffs area of the island, where they “earned an ‘Animal House’ reputation” for their “wild parties, fights and late-night carousing.”

The documents were produced in accordance with a Judicial Watch lawsuit filed in November 2015 against the Secret Service for failing to respond to 19 Freedom of Information Act requests for security-related expenses related to travel by Obama and other VIPs.

Documents from Judicial Watch’s investigations and lawsuits show that the current total known bill to the taxpayer for the Obamas’ travel is at least $74,124,562.48.

“Now that we’ve sued, the Secret Service has stopped ignoring our requests for details on more of the costs of Barack Obama’s luxury vacations,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Taxpayers, the U.S. Air Force, and the Secret Service are being abused by Barack Obama, who too often treats Air Force One and his security detail like some of sort of kingly entourage.  Does Barack Obama really think that over $5 million for two family vacations, which include nearly $1 million in Secret Service hotel bills for a two week Martha’s Vineyard vacation, is an appropriate use of tax dollars?”

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