We already knew that unlawfully appointed acting Department of Homeland Sec. Chad Wolf was getting trotted across the country at taxpayer expense to be a perfectly coiffed Trump campaign prop leading into the election, but now we also know how much we paid for that. Independent federal watchdog American Oversight said records show that taxpayers may have shelled out over $90,000 for Unlawful Chad to travel to Portland, Oregon, back in July. Nearly all of that was for airfare, the watchdog said.
“On July 16, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf visited Portland, decrying the protesters as a ‘violent mob,’” the watchdog said. “Not only was his visit fiercely criticized by state and local leaders, but new records obtained by American Oversight in response to a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that Wolf’s controversial trip may have cost taxpayers a pretty penny.”
American Oversight calls Unlawful Chad’s visit to Portland this past July “a day trip from Las Vegas,” where he’d been, for some reason, meeting with business and casino executives. Maybe betting on his chances of finally getting officially confirmed to his job? Anyway, the watchdog said that while Unlawful Chad and a deputy were staying at one of the big casinos for a “relatively modest” fee, the quick detour to Portland and back was anything but.
“The records appear to show that the total airfare for the four legs of the journey—from Washington, DC, to Las Vegas, to Portland, and back to Las Vegas and then Washington—was $86,394,” American Oversight said. “Additionally, a table with rates for secure voice calls on July 16 shows a total expense of $5,842.03.”
In Portland, we know that federal agents were carrying out the brazen, public kidnappings of protesters angered over the police killing of George Floyd this past May. But we also know Unlawful Chad’s visit was a Trump campaign stop all the way, part of a tour he would continue in numerous states. In one Texas stop just days before the election, Unlawful Chad and acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan in fact carried out a photo-op signing a plaque commemorating 400 miles of Trump’s stupidly expensive border fencing, also paid for by us. Who knows how much all of that cost.
It was such shameless politicking that American Oversight asked for, and got, the chief of Office of Special Counsel’s Hatch Act unit to agree to open an investigation into top DHS leadership using their government positions to act like a taxpayer-funded Trump super PAC. The officials held “at least four public events in states that are closely contested in the presidential election,” the watchdog said at the time. The shameless campaigning didn’t work: Donald Trump ended up losing three of those states—Arizona, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania—to President-elect Joe Biden.
But while Unlawful Chad’s time at DHS will soon come to an end, and thank you all for helping make that happen, the administration has reportedly still been pushing for his official confirmation as recently as last month. Partly because he’s an entitled man who feels entitled to the job, partly because they’re trying to save the unlawful policies he unlawfully signed into place.
In just one example, a federal judge last month ruled that because Unlawful Chad was unlawfully appointed acting secretary, the memo he signed this past summer refusing to accept new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals applications was also invalid. The Trump administration is now under court order to announce the full reopening of DACA by today, Monday. Stay tuned.