Trump Jr. trip’s cost to U.S. aim of Kopp suit
San Francisco Ethics Commissioner Quentin Kopp filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday to force the Secret Service to turn over documents detailing how much it cost taxpayers to protect Donald Trump Jr. while he was on a business trip to India on behalf of the Trump Organization.
In February, Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son and executive vice president at the Trump Organization, traveled to India for a weeklong tour to promote Trump-branded luxury properties across that country.
The tour featured a dinner with Trump Jr., for which prospective condo buyers paid a $38,000 “booking fee,” according to the complaint, which
cited reporting by national media outlets.
The trip — and the perception of potential conflicts of interest — were assailed by critics at the time who raised concerns that Trump Jr. was using his relationship with the president to promote the private family business. President Trump has repeatedly been criticized for blurring the lines between the family’s real estate enterprises and his role as head of state.
According to Kopp’s complaint, Trump Jr. was also accompanied by Secret Service members “throughout his trip” to provide him with security.
In an effort to determine how much taxpayer money was spent to protect him, Kopp submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act seeking, among other things, the number of Secret Service personnel accompanying Trump Jr. on the trip, details about their salaries and other costs incurred and clarification around the agency’s rules “relating to justification, responsibility and duties of Secret Service detail members” on such a trip.
Mason Brayman, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said the agency was aware of the lawsuit but unable to comment on pending litigation. The Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment.
Kopp, a retired judge who previously served as a San Francisco supervisor and state senator, claims the Secret Service has refused his requests for information. He said the agency insisted Kopp’s request was too broad and that after some back and forth correspondence, the Secret Service has ignored him since May.
“There’s been a wholesale use of taxpayer assets by the Trump family, led by the president of the United States,” Kopp said. “It’s almost as if he’s acting in the true form of a crook — to take taxpayer money and to use it for private business. I’m a taxpayer. I resent it.”
It’s customary for the Secret Service to provide round-the-clock security for a president’s immediate family. In September, the New York Times reported that Trump Jr. wished to forgo the protection, not long after reports surfaced that the president’s large family and its itinerant lifestyle were straining the agency’s resources.
“Taxpayers deserve to know where their money is being spent and why their money is being spent to protect the adult son of the president on a trip designed solely to support the interests of the Trump organization,” said Kopp’s lawyer, Justin Berger, an attorney at the Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy law firm in Burlingame. Kopp and Berger said they intend to file similar FOIA requests about the Trump family’s activities involving taxpayer money.
“This is the first step in that process, in determining what’s been violated and how it’s been violated,” Berger said.