February 6, 2019 - Washington – Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Representative Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, today announced a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found the Trump Administration spent approximately $13.6 million at taxpayers’ expense on travel to the President’s Mar-a-Lago resort during his first few weeks in office. Peters, Feinstein and Cummings requested the investigation last year following news reports of the President’s frequent visits to Mar-a-Lago during his first few months in office.

Feinstein, Peters and Cummings issued a joint statement on the report’s findings:

“This alarming report captures a snapshot of the tens of millions of dollars President Trump spends to travel to his Palm Beach resort – all at taxpayer expense – including government funds that are paid directly to a business in which the president himself has a financial interest. This is part of a troubling pattern of wasteful spending and serious abuse of tax dollars by the administration. We will keep investigating this issue to ensure taxpayer dollars are being used effectively and appropriately.”

Below is a summary of GAO’s key findings:

• President Trump’s first four trips to Mar-a-Lago cost federal taxpayers $13.6 million, including $60,000 paid directly to Mar-a-Lago.

• About $10.6 million of that amount was spent on operating costs for government aircraft and boats, and $3 million went to personnel costs for staff supporting the President’s travel.

• The Department of Defense and Secret Service did not regularly report to Congress the cost of protecting the President, in violation of federal law, and those agencies should develop better reporting systems to comply with the mandate.

• Three international trips made on behalf of the Trump Organization by Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump—to Uruguay, the Dominican Republican, and the United Arab Emirates in January and February 2017—cost taxpayers $396,000.

The full report is available here.
Source: Senator Dianne Feinstein