Secret Service forced to pay $3K a month for bathroom near Kushner home
At one-point, service members were instructed to use a porta-potty outside their Kalorama neighborhood home
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are taking social distancing to another level.
The daughter and son-in-law to outgoing President Donald Trump allegedly don’t allow their Secret Service detail to use their bathroom. The White House denies the claim, but sources close to the situation say the couple has made it clear that the six bathrooms in their Washington, D.C home is off-limits, per The Washington Post.
At one-point service members were instructed to use a porta-potty outside their Kalorama neighborhood home.
“They sort of came in with the attitude, like, ‘We are royalty,’” said Dianne Bruce, a prior neighbor of the couple. “When they put the porta-potty right outside on the sidewalk we weren’t allowed to walk on, that was when people in the neighborhood said, ‘That’s really not acceptable.’”
Read More: Over 130 Secret Service officers may be infected with coronavirus
Besides the porta-potty, Secret Service was forced to use the restroom at various restaurants, neighbors’ homes and were even invited to relieve themselves at Vice President Mike Pence’s house. They were also offered to use a bathroom at the home of former President Barack Obama, but the invitation was rescinded once a Secret Service supervisor made a mess.
“I think it was very clear that they just needed a place to take a shower, take a break, use the facilities, have lunch,” said neighbor Kay Kendall, the chairwoman of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
She says the service knocked on her door in 2017, asking to use her facilities. “I’m happy to be able to have helped them.”
Read More: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos quits, cites Trump rhetoric
Since September of 2017, the federal government has spent $3,000 a month in taxpayers’ money to rent a basement apartment so the service can use the restroom in the Kalorama neighborhood. They have spent $100,000 to date.
A Secret Service spokesperson refused to comment but said the service “does not discuss the means, methods, or resources utilized to carry out our protective mission.”
The White House says these claims are false, and the Secret Service decided not to use the Trump/Kushner home.
“When discussions regarding protecting their home were initially had in 2017, Ivanka and Jared made clear that their home would always be open to the incredible men and women on their detail. It was only after a decision by the [Secret Service] was made that their detail sought other accommodations,” wrote Judd Deere, the White House spokesman in an email.
“The Kushners have a tremendous amount of respect for the servicemen and women on their detail and for the United States Secret Service as a whole. Their home will always be open to them and they have immense gratitude for their service over the last four years.”
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