And you thought you spent a lot on hair and makeup!
Monday, lawmakers revealed that you and I (taxpayers) paid more than $200,000 in production costs for an ad featuring now-fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem riding around Mount Rushmore on a horse.
This was part of the $220 million ad campaign, authorized by ‘Ice Barbie’ that pushed migrants to leave the US on their own accord.
A partial breakdown: $20,000 on horse rentals for the ad; $3,781 on hair and makeup; $52,599 on videography, photography and production vendors; $41,852 on “other vendors.”
“This looks like waste, fraud, and abuse to me,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said after reviewing the production costs.
While leading the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem and her senior team allowed tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to be spent on wasteful production costs, a shady signing bonus, and a very expensive horse rental — and that’s just what we know so far,” Welch said.
Blumenthal called the spending “completely unacceptable” and an “absurd waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer funds.”