Taxpayers spent nearly $2.2 million for lodging, entertainment and security expenses alone for Secret Service agents when the Obamas took their week-long trip to Africa last year,
Judicial Watch said, citing documents released through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The group said documents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security showed that the Secret Service entourage accompanying President Barack Obama and his family to sub-Saharan Africa from June 27 to July 3, 2013, racked up $953,788 in hotel accommodations alone.
While the family's Tanzania safari excursion was canceled shortly before the Obamas headed out to Africa, Secret Service preparations for that leg of the trip totaled $11,525.75, Judicial Watch said.
"The Obamas clearly either do not understand the value of a dollar, or understand it all too well when someone else is picking up the tab," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.
The family visited three countries in Africa: Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania. Judicial Watch cited a story in
The Washington Post that said hundreds of Secret Service agents would be deployed for the trip.
The $2.2 million for the Secret Service was just a small part of the overall costs for the trip. In March, Judicial Watch released flight expense reports from the Air Force that revealed the flight expenses for the trip alone were $8.1 million, or $228,288 per hour for 35.5 hours.
Overall, the Obamas' family vacation cost taxpayers between $60 million and $100 million, Judicial Watch said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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