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(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealing the Obama family’s August 2015 vacation on Martha’s Vineyard cost taxpayers $465,420.49 in Secret Service expenses alone. This included $457,310.33 in hotels, $271.56 in car rentals, and $7,838.60 in air/rail travel. The records were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on November 24, 2015. 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,...

Michelle Obama departs Sunday for a six-day trip to Africa and Europe to advocate for the Let Girls Learn initiative, White House officials said. The stops in Liberia and Morocco will be recorded for a documentary by CNN Films, which is picking up the costs for two trip participants, actresses Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto, an Obama aide said Friday. The documentary will air in the fall, said Tina Tchen, the first lady's chief of staff. Let Girls Learn is a U.S. government-wide effort to get the estimated 62 million uneducated girls overseas into classrooms. Poverty, cultural barriers, violence and...

A Second Federal Court Grants Discovery in Clinton Email Case Judicial Watch Finds Hillary Clinton Email Withheld from State Department The Obamas’ Honolulu Vacation Cost Taxpayers $3.6 million in Flight Expenses A Second Federal Court Grants Discovery in Clinton Email Case Last month we reported to you that U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivangranted our motion for discovery into whether the State Department and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton deliberately thwarted the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for six years. This week we’re pleased to tell you about another blockbuster court ruling – a second federal judge...

Full title: Judicial Watch: Obama Family's October Weekend Fundraising Getaway to San Diego Cost Taxpayers $2,001,468.90 in Travel Expenses Alone Known Travel Expenses Now Approaching $10 Million A Year (Washington, DC) - Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained records from the U.S. Department of the Air Force revealing that the October 2015 Columbus Day getaway enjoyed by President Barack Obama and his family cost taxpayers $969,783.90 in flight expenses alone. The documents regarding the Obama travel expenses came in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request first filed on October 13, 2015. According to the newly...

Obama Family Vacation Breaks the Bank at Taxpayer Expense Judicial Watch Files for Contempt in Supreme Court against State of Hawaii Judicial Watch Comes to the Rescue of Congress in Climate Change Scandal Obama Family Vacation Breaks the Bank at Taxpayer Expense I hope your Christmas and holiday season has been wonderful. The Christmas holidays are a busy time of year for Judicial Watch because corrupt politicians and bureaucrats often leak embarrassing scandal information during a time when many Americans aren't focused on the news (and many reporters are on vacation). Sure enough, we received a Christmas document dump...

There was the weekend trip for President Barack Obama and his daughters to New York, including a Broadway show and a private museum tour. The ski trip to Aspen, Colorado, for first lady Michelle Obama in February. And lots and lots of golf in Florida, Southern California and Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Now as the Obama family departs Friday on its annual holiday vacation to Hawaii, new estimates put the price tag of the Obamas' 2015 trips that are all or largely personal at $11.6 million for travel costs alone, according to the conservative group Judicial Watch, based on federal government...

Secret Service in Cover-Up Mode on Obama Travel Costs State Department Rushed Approval for Hillary Clinton's Memoirs Happy ThanksgivingSecret Service in Cover-Up Mode on Obama Travel Costs There may be legitimate reasons for the Secret Service to keep some documents from the public. But concealing taxpayer-funded security expenses for Barack Obama's luxury vacations sure isn't one of them. That's why your JW has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Secret Service for failing to respond to 19 Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for security-related expenses related...

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained records from the U.S. Department of the Air Force revealing that Barack Obama’s February and March 2015 travel for golf vacations and fundraisers totaled $4,436,245.50 in taxpayer-funded transportation expenses. The documents regarding the Obama travel expenses came in response to two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by Judicial Watch. To date, the Secret Service has not provided requested information, as required by FOIA, regarding security costs.

Don't get me wrong, there is STILL a lot I like about Las Vegas: cheap flights, lot of choices, inexpensive rental cars and relative proximity (six hour drive) to three of the four most important people in our lives: our grandchildren. But this time, we agreed to a three night stay at a brand name hotel along the strip in return for listening to a time share spiel, which we politely declined. It is a LOT different from the Las Vegas I knew as a pup when I was single and working in the LA area and my kid brother...

It could be said that the U.S. government can run by remote control. On the day that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up a Northwest airline flight headed for Detroit, several key government players were on holiday and didn't immediately return to their posts in Washington, D.C. President Obama was on vacation in Hawaii, golfing and enjoying time with his family. He returned to the White House on Jan. 4. A source told CBS News that Leon Panetta, director of the CIA, was on holiday in Monterey, Calif. when Abdulmutallab was apprehended, and didn't return to CIA headquarters in...

Full title: Judicial Watch: Records Reveal Michelle Obama’s 2014 Trip to China Cost Taxpayers More Than $360,000 in Air Transportation Expenses Alone (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it obtained records from the U.S. Department of the Air Force revealing that Michelle Obama’s 2014 trip to China cost American taxpayers $362,523.53 in air travel expenses alone. The First Lady, her daughters, and her mother spent March 19 – 26 in China, in a trip highlighted by extended visits to some of the country’s most popular tourist sites. Judicial Watch obtained the Air Force records on June 25, 2015,...

The FBI has canceled all vacations for agents over the 4th of July weekend. According to our inside source — FBI agents are telling their friends and family members to avoid “official celebrations.” Fox News reported Monday evening on Special Report that the FBI is setting up command centers around the country to prepare for possible terror attacks on the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Man, the fun never stops. President Obama continues to cast a pall of unseriousness over his presidency, which was already of questionable seriousness, planning a weekend of golf out in California following two days of fundraising on the Left Coast. This just a week after throwing a White House bash for 500 of his closest friends. Meanwhile, his wife is on a taxpayer-funded excursion to Europe where she is promoting health and education overseas while taking in some sights with her daughters and her mother. According to the Washington Examiner, Obama will golf in Palm Springs even amidst drought, a...

Michelle Obama pledges not to slow down, despite the fact her second and final term as first lady is winding down. She made the comments in an interview with an Italian publication touting her Let's Move health initiative. The publication asked, "You just celebrated the fifth anniversary of your initiative “Let’s Move!” What are the best results you have achieved and the next goals?" "Through Let’s Move! we have started a new conversation about how we eat and live in the U.S., and the results we’ve seen are beyond anything we could ever have imagined. 1.6 million kids are now...

We've got a secret the rental car companies would prefer you didn't know. people camping in RV More The Cheapest Way to Roadtrip Might Surprise You 3 Ways to Avoid Costly Rental Car Insurance These Are the Most Hated Fees in America This won’t come as news to commuters and frequent road trippers, but drivers are encountering more and more toll roads, as well as higher and higher tolls on the existing ones. The latest example is I-10 in Texas, where plans called for the maximum toll during peak travel hours to shoot from $7 to $10 as of May...

The bill for the summer-work vacation of first lady Michelle Obama, accompanied to England and Italy by her daughters, mom, and staff, should easily top her entourage's 2010 trip to Spain that cost an eye-popping $467,000. While the White House didn't provide cost estimates for the week-long visit to London, Milan, Venice, and Vincenza, Italy, the State Department put lodging costs for just a couple nights in Venice at $128,781, according to Free Beacon, and Air Force charges based on a 2012 document for flying her group on past overseas trips indicate that this one will hit $243,000.

Just a quick update, as you organize to file your income taxes, on the Obama family's lavish travel expenses that your money is underwriting. Financing might be a better word. Barack and Michelle Obama have traveled more than any other first couple -- doing Spain, Africa, China, South America, among other distant spots. Often they're accompanied by friends and Michelle Obama's Mom, Marian Robinson, who's been living in the White House at taxpayer expense since her son-in-law's inauguration. And in some cases, Mrs. Robinson's friends tag along.

Full title: Judicial Watch: Obama Family’s 2014 Christmas Vacation in Hawaii Cost Taxpayers $3,672,798 in Transportation Expenses Martha’s Vineyard August, 2014 Vacation Cost $400,666.30 in Transportation $2,425,085.50 were Spent in Transportation Expenses for Obama’s July, 2014 West Coast Fundraising TripObama Hawaii Christmas vacations over the past three years have cost taxpayers $15,540,515.10 in travel expenses alone; (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it obtained records from the U.S. Department of the Air Force revealing that the Obama family’s 2014 Christmas vacation to Honolulu, Hawaii, cost taxpayers $3,672,798 in flight expenses alone. Christmas in Hawaii is an annual tradition for...

The first family, Michelle Obama fresh from her annual Aspen ski vacation with her daughters, and President Obama back from a weekend of golf in sunny Palm Springs, Calif., have spent tens of millions in tax dollars to vacation, and they still have two more years to go, according to an accounting of their trips. As the first lady readies for a trip to Japan and Cambodia this month, Secrets calculated that the first family has racked up 38 holidays, working vacations, and fun trips like a date night in New York. They are on par to take at least...

The overtime costs incurred by Honolulu Police Department to provide round-the-clock protection for President Barack Obama and his family during his annual Hawaiian vacation have doubled since 2008 when the Obamas began spending the holidays here. In his first Hawaiian vacation following the 2008 presidential election, HPD reported overtime costs of $107,000. During his seventh Hawaii vacation last month, HPD reported $277,585 in overtime costs in addition to the police officers' regular salaries. The first family spent 16 days on Oahu, staying in the same Kailua neighborhood and enjoyed days of golfing, hiking, snorkeling, and eating shave ice during their...