Sheriff Slams Pence For Stiffing Cops With Huge Bill While Holding $700,000 Fundraiser
July 29th 2019
Mike Pence - Caricature (DonkeyHotey)
By Oliver Willis
The sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, is slamming Mike Pence for not paying the $24,000 bill to provide security for him when he came to town for a high-dollar fundraiser.
Pence was the star attraction at a fundraiser at the Caribou Club in Aspen, where couples paid $35,000 each to attend. Pence also spoke to the Republican Governors Association at the St. Regis Aspen Resort.
Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo told the Aspen Daily News that the police who worked to secure the venue for Pence are owed payment, and he is upset that they haven’t received it.
“We had a SWAT team from Garfield County here that I want to see get reimbursed. We had Carbondale officers here that I want to see get reimbursed. They don’t have this kind of money — I don’t have this kind of money,” he said.
DiSalvo said the Pence security detail involved 64 police officers involved over Pence’s 20-hour visit.
“Out of those 64, 14 were state troopers, and we don’t have a responsibility to pay them. But the 50 other cops that were here are all on the county dime,” DiSalvo said. “You raise $700,000 in an hour, you should be able to pitch in to support the community that made you feel welcome.”
The issue was brought up at a meeting of commissioners by County Commissioner Greg Poschman.
Pence “cost us a lot of time and effort when everyone was stuck waiting for his way-oversized motorcade to go through. He could have driven through in a Jeep with a hat and sunglasses and nobody would’ve noticed,” Poschman said.
The Trump team has a track record of leaving local officials holding the bag after parachuting into towns for political events.
At least 10 cities have come forward to say that the Trump campaign has not paid hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to them for providing security.
The Center for Public Integrity said Trump owes locals at least $841,219 dollars.
The problem is so bad that Orlando made Trump pay up front ahead of his rally there in June, to ensure it didn’t get stiffed.
Pence pledged last year to give “all the heroes of law enforcement the training, tools, and the respect that they deserve.”
He just won’t pay them.
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