The Secret Service is supposed to have sophisticated and secure communications when POTUS travels. So, why was this money spent on cell phones? And, who used them?
Via Weekly Standard:
When the president of the United States travels, the White House and the Secret Service bring along a tremendous amount of communications equipment. Not only does the Secret Service set up a command post to coordinate communications for the visits, but secure connections are also needed for the president to keep in touch with Washington and the military around the world in case of emergencies. Despite all of these arrangements, however, a total of $7,540 was spent for foreign-made cell phones for President Obama’s recent trip to Ethiopia….
It remains unclear exactly who used the cell phones during the Ethiopia visit, or what happened to the phones when the visit was over. After an initial response from the press office of the State Department about the contract, a state department spokesperson subsequently deferred to the White House, saying, “After speaking with my colleagues we think you should contact the WH Press Office for any comment on the President’s trip to Ethiopia.”
Related:
Weekly Standard: Obama’s Hotel Bill for One Night in Brisbane: $1.7M
Don’t know. But in following the money; Ethio Telecom is the nationalized phone service in Ethiopia, and 2 years ago it signed an $800 million mobile phone deal with China. Maybe this expenditure was just a payoff for not using the Chinese supplied mobile phone network. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/18/us-ethiopia-china-telecom-idUSBRE97H0AZ20130818
Sounds like free phones for all Obama supporters once again, but this time he’s going world wide.