Michelle Obama’s June trip to Italy and the United Kingdom cost taxpayers more than $200,000 on air transportation alone, according to documents released by a government watchdog group.
The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch after filing a Freedom of Information Act request June 22, found that the First Lady’s international trip in June ran $240,495.67 in airfare costs. Obama, who was accompanied by her mother and daughters, took the six-day trip in late June and made stops in London, Milan, and Vicenza.
"According to the Air Force documents, the flights to London, England and Milan, Venice, and Vicenza, Italy, for the June 15–21, 2015, trip totaled 20:35 hours at the cost of $11,684 per hour, bringing the flight expense total to $240,495.67," Judicial Watch writes.
The watchdog also notes that despite the White House billing the event as a part of Michelle’s "Let Girls Learn" and "Let’s Move" campaign, Michelle and company did their fair share of sightseeing on the trip and even sat down for tea at Kensington Place with Prince Harry.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said that if Obama wants to have tea with Prince Harry, she is entitled to do so—but not on the taxpayers' dime.
"The Obama family continues to bill the taxpayers for costly tourism jaunts thinly disguised as humanitarian crusades," said Fitton. "If Michelle Obama wants to take tea with Prince Harry or enthuse over Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, she is certainly entitled to do so, but not at taxpayer expense."