Obama's Christmas vacation cost nearly $5 million

A conservative group criticized the Obama family for spending nearly $5 million on last year's Christmas vacation in Hawaii.

Mr. Obama eats ice cream with his daughter Malia in Kailua, Hawaii during a vacation in 2015. Photo: AP.

Conservative groupJudicial Watch obtained access to some U.S. Secret Service documents through the Freedom of Information Act.(FOIA) and learned that the agency spent $1.2 million on the president's trip.Adding to the figures previously collected by the group, the Obamas' Hawaii vacation in December 2015 cost a total of more than $4.8 million.

According to calculations ofJudicial Watch, the total cost of the Obama family's vacations during their 8 years in the White House was 85 million USD, RT reported.

Although the first family is on vacation for 17 days, Secret Service agents must arrive at the resort well in advance, increasing the cost of food and lodging. They also have to pay for the rental of more than 100 vehicles to serve the president during this time, in addition to air and rail costs.

Mr. Tom Fitton, representative ofJudicial Watch criticized the Obama family for wasting taxpayer money and unnecessary human resources, and said this needed to be reformed under the new administration of Donald Trump.

Judicial Watch was founded in 1994 and has filed more than 18 lawsuits against the US government. The group's allegations about the Obamas' foreign trips have been criticized.

In 2011,Judicial Watch accused First Lady Michelle Obama of defrauding taxpayers by traveling to Africa to travel instead of promoting education. In fact, the Obamas paid for the family trip themselves.

According to VNE