President Obama, who famously suggested he would give up taking vacations if he was elected president, has spent nearly $80 million of taxpayer money on vacations.

That’s according to the newest total compile by Judicial Watch, which has been monitoring those costs since Obama moved into the White House and started getting away to Hawaii, sending his kids to Mexico for spring break and his wife to Africa.

Judicial Watch said Wednesday the information from the Department of Homeland Security shows the Obama family’s August 2015 vacation on Martha’s Vineyard cost taxpayers $465,420.49 in Secret Service expenses alone.

“The records were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on November 24, 2015,” the organization reported. “Judicial Watch sued the Department of Homeland Security, of which the Secret Service is a part, because it had failed to respond to 19 FOIA requests from Judicial Watch since July 21, 2014.

The newly obtained records show Obama’s trip in July 2014 to Seattle and Los Angeles “solely for fund-raising, specifically to boost the treasuries of two ‘super pacs'” cost taxpayers $237,731.04 for hotels, $19,888.70 for rental cars and $1,451.40 for air or rail travel.

Read “The Roots of Obama’s Rage” and other works by Dinesh D’Souza.

“Judicial Watch previously reported that Air Force transportation expenses for this trip cost taxpayers $2,425,085.50 – bringing the grand total to $2,684,145.60.”

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said taxpayers “should be incensed that the Secret Service’s resources [are] wasted to provide security for endless golf excursions, political fundraisers, and luxury vacations.”



“President Obama’s travel is a scandal. It’s about his abuse of the office and his abuse of hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”

Chris Farrell, the director of investigations and research for Judicial Watch, told WND that expenses for personal trips have varied over the years, as have the number of “vacation” days.

Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, often spent vacation time at his Texas ranch.

The costs there would have been significantly lower, he noted, because the Secret Service was dealing with one location.

“They weren’t getting hotel rooms, moving multiple aircraft, fleets of cars. It was predictable, constrained,” he said. “It was repetitive.”

The new details revealed by Judicial Watch include $1,604,380.50 for Obama’s Westchester, New York and Providence, Rhode Island, trip in August 2014, when the purpose “was for fundraising and attending the wedding of an MSNBC host.”

An August 2015 trip to Martha’s Vineyard, for the Obamas’ sixth family summer getaway to that location, cost more than $457,000 in hotels alone.

A trip to Palm Springs in February 2015 for a meeting with  national leaders that featured golf, several Democratic fundraisers and filming of an episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” cost taxpayers $1,189,985.70.

A weekend getaway for the president and his daughters to New York and an appearance at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser cost $576,803.85.

“The current grand total of known Obama travel-related expenses now stands at $79,630,433.93,” Judicial Watch said.


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