By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Calling Vice President Mike Pence’s early departure from an NFL game on Sunday a political stunt, two top Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee are urging the Secret Service to disclose the cost of the trip in Indianapolis.
The letter to Secret Service Director Randolph Alles on Wednesday accused Pence of billing taxpayers for a political stunt.
“The costs associated with the Vice President traveling to Indianapolis and attending a large, public event are immense, and we are deeply concerned that the Trump Administration finds it appropriate to expend taxpayer resources to play political games,” reads the letter by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman.
The letter also asks whether any of the agents who were present lost their eligibility for overtime because of statutory pay limits.
Pence flew from Las Vegas to Indianapolis, where he attended a matchup between the Colts and the San Francisco 49ers. Reporters traveling with the vice president were told by a staffer to wait in their vans outside the stadium because of the possibility of “an early departure from the game.”
Pence soon left, after some players knelt in protest during “The Star-Spangled Banner.” President Trump later tweeted that he had told the vice president to leave if any players took a knee.
