A federal lawsuit has been filed because Pentagon and Secret Service officials have missed statuatory deadlines for responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for documents concerning First Lady Michelle Obama’s vacation trip to Aspen, Colorado in February over the President’s Day weekend.
The suit was filed by Judicial Watch, the non-partisan watchdog group, which submitted FOIAs with the U.S. Air Force’s Air Mobility Command (AMC) and the Secret Service within a week following the First Lady’s Aspen vacation seeking “access to any and all records concerning the mission taskings, transportation costs and passenger manifests” for the trip.
The AMC did not acknowledge receipt of the group’s FOIA request until April 12. The Secret Service acknowledged receipt on March 21. Under federal law, the AMC was required to provide at least a partial documentary response by May 9, while the Secret Service was required to provide a partial response by April 23.
The suit, which was filed May 31, is the third such action taken by Judicial Watch in pursuit of documents concerning presidential travel. Previously, the group obtained documents indicating costs of $467,585 for the First Lady’s August 2010 trip to Spain, and costs of at least $424,142 for her June 21-27 trip to South Africa and Botswana.
“Why is the Obama administration repeatedly stonewalling basic questions about the costs of the Obama family’s personal travel?” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “In the least, the Obama administration owes the American people the truth about how much each of these trips cost, instead of stonewalling and obfuscation.”
For more from Judicial Watch, go here.
