Politics - News Analysis
American Taxpayers Forced to Pay For Don Jr.’s Sheep Hunting Vacation to Canada
The Secret Service and U.S. taxpayers have paid tens of thousands of dollars to the Trump Organization’s Vancouver properties to protect Donald Trump, Jr., according to a new report by Politico.
The Secret Service spent $16,600 at the Trump International Hotel and Tower and other sites during the first son’s hunting trip to the Yukon in August 2017, even though the Secret Service stayed at other area hotels.
The Secret Service also spent $20,000 at the same Vancouver hotel in February 2017 when Don Jr., Eric Trump, and Tiffany Trump attended the hotel grand opening.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has called on other members of the House Oversight Committee to look into a clause in the Constitution that bars a president from receiving federal money outside of his salary.
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“The presidency should not be a money-making operation,” Raskin told Politico. “The president is directing his subordinates in the Executive Branch of government… to stay at Trump properties.”
The Secret Service is required to protect the president’s children, but the tendency of Trump and his family to funnel funds to their own properties has complicated what had been a routine practice. Critics say the Trumps are using the presidency to boost the president’s businesses by forcing the federal government to spend taxpayer money at Trump properties.
Donald Trump Jr. hit Twitter on Wednesday morning to somewhat confirm the story, but to suggest that he would happily give up Secret Service protection:
Fact check: TRUE https://t.co/zG3YYubO9B
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 14, 2019
Twitter didn’t seem to care:
Funneling public money into your own business while you were slaughtering animals?
Nice.
Was the Secret Service was there to protect you from the sheep?
— Mike Hamm (@mike_hamm) August 14, 2019
The son of a real billionaire would pay for the security himself, saving public funds. The son of a "billionaire," OTOH, who's family has spent a century figuring out how to bilk the #American people out of their money, is more than willing to stick taxpayers with the bill.
— William F Tulloch (@CPTDoomDC) August 14, 2019
I'm sure daddy could issue an executive order so you can give up Secret Service protection. If you are so proficient at killing exotic animals, we can trust you to protect yourself.
— FP Smith (@fpsmith303) August 14, 2019
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