Obama White House Targets JW over Michelle Obama Travel

by Dennis Rhea

Last week I reported to you that Judicial Watch had received mission expense records and passenger manifests for Michelle Obama’s family vacation to Africa. Per the documents, we calculated that the total cost to American taxpayers was $424,142 for the flight and crew alone. Other expenses, such as off-flight food, transportation, security, etc. were not included.

Well, shortly after our documents were splashed all over the news, the Obama White House responded. As you might expect, they did not concede the cost of the trip. In fact, they said we got it wrong.

“The number stated is misconstrued and out of context,” said an unnamed White House senior official.

That is utter disinformation.

We came up with our number based on specific directions given to us by the United States Air Force!

As you will recall, Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Air Force to get hold of documents related to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s abuse of military aircraft. On January 3, 2011, we received a letter from the Air Force that explains how to calculate the fuel costs for military travel. Here is the relevant excerpt:

Our office was provided 100 pages of responsive records from the 89th Airlift Wing (A W) at Andrews AFB; however, they do not have records specifically related to the fuel costs incurred for Ms. Pelosi's transportation. The 89A W Public Affairs office provided the following link to the OSD Comptroller public website at: http://comptroller.defense.gov/rates/fv2011.html where, along with the aircraft type and hours flown, you can determine the approximate cost per flight. The releasable documents attached contain the type of aircraft and hours flown.
Example: Mission # 16888 shows ETE (Estimated Time Enroute) as 05+45 (5 hours and 45 minutes) and return flight was 4 hours and 45 minutes. The Aircraft type was C3 7, found on page two. Go to link: Change Fiscal Year to 2010, find Air Force heading, then locate C-7A under Type. Cost per hour is $1623.00. Therefore, 10 hours would = $16230.00. The hourly costs are derived from various charges, to include local maintenance, depot maintenance, personnel, etc.

We used this exact same formula to calculate the cost of Michelle Obama’s trip. So if the White House has a beef over the numbers, it’s with the U.S. Air Force, not us. But really this response has nothing to do with the numbers.

Regarding the nature of the trip, the unnamed senior White House official also argued “against any suggestion that this trip was a vacation,” noting there were 5-7 official events each day. But was it really necessary for Michelle Obama to bring her daughters, niece, nephew and mother on this “official” trip (or a separate make-up and hair stylist, for that matter)? What role did any of them play in helping to advance the business of the United States? Would the entire mission have been at risk if Michelle Obama had not brought her extended family along for the ride or for the safari?

CORRUPTION CHRONICLES

(Regarding the Obama girls being listed as “Senior Staff,” the White House claims this designation only describes where passengers are seated on the plane. But this is a distinction without a difference. You can see for yourself in the documents how they are listed. And it only underscores the point that this trip should have been official and that Mrs. Obama should be traveling with her staff on these official business trips.)

By the way, if there is any disagreement regarding the cost of the trip, here’s an idea: Why doesn’t the Obama administration stop stonewalling and release a detailed tally of all of the costs associated with this trip instead of forcing Judicial Watch to file a lawsuit to get the information?

I’ll tell you why – because the Obama White House is embarrassed by the total cost of this trip in light of the state of the economy and record federal deficits. The White House was put on the defensive by our discovery and the resulting international media. I’m sure the Obama White House was really piqued because the news on Michelle Obama’s luxury military jet safari junket is at odds with its orchestrated PR campaign to make the First Lady seem like the typical, price-conscious Target shopper.

As I said in my response to ABC News, which printed the anonymous White House rebuttal, “Once again the White House is trying to play the American people for fools.” And, true to form, White House fronts on the Internet began attacking Judicial Watch and me personally for doing our watchdog work.

We won’t be intimidated by the Obama gang.

The White House can dissemble all it wants, but the fact remains this trip was an expensive junket for the Obama family that wasted valuable military resources.