Excluding the cost of Colombian prostitutes for U.S. Secret Service agents, U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor has discovered that hotel rooms and rental vehicles alone for President Obama's scandal-plagued trip to Colombia cost taxpayers nearly $1 million.
Slated for inclusion in the presidential entourage had been "the Secretary of State, several other Cabinet members, and at least one CODEL," or congressional delegation, according to U.S. Department of State planning documents that the Monitor has obtained.
The trip called for the rental of 1,046 hotel rooms at 13 separate establishments in Cartegena, Colombia, where the sixth annual Summit of the Americas took place.
Out of that total, 258 rooms, including the Presidential Suite, were located at the Hilton Cartegena. The U.S. Embassy likewise rented two conference rooms at the Hilton, though it's unclear why it rented those units -- if the document is accurate -- for "20 days," since the Summit began April 13 and ended April 15.
The Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition, or JOFOC, document said the total number of rooms rented at the hotels -- including the Hotel Caribe, where Secret Service agents allegedly patronized hookers -- was equvalent to a period of "1,877 room nights." Total cost of the rentals was exactly $640,179.10, the JOFOC document said.
The cost of vehicle rental services -- which included a combination of 163 "sedans, vans, minivans, buses, minibuses, SUVs, and trucks" for use by "over 1,300 hundred visitors/guests" -- was $350,533.95. "As an added value, vehicle rental includes the following: Coolers, water, ice, umbrellas, uniforms, and communication media (cell phone) for each driver," according to the JOFOC.
THIS REPORT WAS UPDATED MAY 10 TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS:
ACQUISITION OF HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS IN SUPPORT OF PRESIDENTIAL AND VIP TRAVEL (.pdf)
ACQUISITION OF VEHICLE RENTAL IN SUPPORT OF PRESIDENTIAL AND VIP TRAVEL (.pdf)
