Michelle and Barack Obama’s failed campaign in Copenhagen, Denmark to lure the 2016 Olympics to Chicago cost the taxpayers at least $467,175, not including the use of two Air Force Boeing 747s and several Air Force cargo planes.
Early in the heady days of his administration, the President and his wife blatantly lobbied the International Olympic Committee to award the Summer Olympics to Chicago. In September, 2009 they sent a large entourage including members of the White House Office of Olympic, Paralympic, and Youth Sport, two cabinet secretaries, and White House staff to the IOC meetings in Copenhagen. The information was obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The costs for hotels alone were $235,659, which included the rental of seven “offices.” The cost for an extra hotel day in Copehagen cost taxpayers $33,044 dollars.
The nearly half a million dollars does not include the cost for any of the large Air Force jets commandeered for the failed venture. The IOC awarded the Olympic games to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“Barack and Michelle Obama wasted taxpayer dollars on a junket that seemed designed for one purpose — to take care of their Chicago cronies who stood to gain financially from the Olympics racket,” says Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The fact that Valerie Jarrett needed an ‘ethics waiver’ to lead this failed bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago tells you almost all you need to know about the scandalous nature of this trip.”
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