◼ Jay Carney contradicted President Obama today by admitting the White House in fact cancelled tours of the White House, not the Secret Service: - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard
◼ OBAMA: I didn't do it - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard
President Obama says he's not the one who canceled the White House tours. He made the comments in an interview with ABC News.◼ 'Labor intensive' tours will remain closed - Vince Coglianese/Daily Caller
"[O]ne more question about the spending cuts," said the interviewer from ABC News. "You’ve been takin’ a lotta heat for this cancellation of the White House tours. They get– the Secret Service says it’s costs about $74,000 a week. Was canceling them really necessary?"
"You know, I have to say this was not– a decision that went up to the White House. But th– what the Secret Service explained to us was that they’re gonna have to furlough some folks. What furloughs mean is– is that people lose a day of work and a day of pay," Obama said, in response.
"And, you know, the question for them is, you know, how deeply do they have to furlough their staff and is it worth it to make sure that we’ve got White House tours that means that you got a whole bunch of families who are depending on a paycheck who suddenly are seein’––a 5% or 10%– reduction in their pay. Well, what I’m asking them is are there ways, for example, for us to accommodate school groups– you know, who may have traveled here with some bake sales. Can we make sure that– kids, potentially, can– can still come to tour?"
◼ Obama Spurns Trump Offer to Foot White House Tours - Newsmax
Even as a top senior presidential adviser dismissed Donald Trump’s offer to pay to resume tours at the White House, President Obama said he would try to reopen the doors in time for spring-break school groups....◼ Former Agent Blasts Obama Administration for ‘Throwing Secret Service Under the Bus’ - Andrew Johnson/National Review
“If you look at what’s going on, I guess they’re trying to make a political point. It’s just really ridiculous,” Trump said. “It does make us look awfully bad and awfully pathetic.”
... former agent blasted President Obama for blaming the Secret Service for the decision to shut down White House tours, calling it “an act of political cowardice” on Your World with Neil Cavuto this afternoon. Dan Bongino explained that the agency’s job is to provide security for the White House; it does not determine who comes in. “To say that this was the Secret Service, and that they somehow injected themselves into a political decision — well, do they get to tell [the president] to stop taking vacations and to stop going golfing as well?” Bongino said. “This doesn’t even pass the smell test....”
