In an unusual move, the Secret Service is denying a report this week that White House senior advisersIvanka TrumpandJared Kushnerhave been refusing to let their government security detail use any of the six-and-a-half bathrooms inside their Washington, D.C., home.
From left: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.Alex Wong/Getty
So did the Secret Service, which typically avoids commenting on the specifics of its work.
“The Secret Service makes every effort, particularly at a residence, to conduct protective operations with minimum impact on a household,” a spokesperson told PEOPLE and other outlets in a statement after initially declining to comment to thePost.
“In accordance with this practice, Secret Service personnel do not request access to the facilities at private residences,” the spokesperson said. “Ivanka Trumpand Jared Kushner have not denied Secret Service personnel access to their home to include use of the restroom.”
ThePost’s report describes in detail the up-and-down arc of bathroom availability for the agents — including, per their reporting, how agents were banned from a spare facility in the Obamas garage after one made “an unpleasant mess.”
While agents assigned to Ivanka and Kushner had access to a porta-potty, for a time, they also used a restroom at Vice PresidentMike Pence’s residence about a mile away and at area restaurants, according to thePost.
“It’s the first time I ever heard of a Secret Service detail having to go to these extremes to find a bathroom,” one law enforcement official told thePost.
Eventually, agents worked out a new arrangement, the paper reported. Since September 2017, the Secret Service has rented out an 820-square-foot basement apartment near the family’s home, for $3,000 a month.
Citing a contract via the General Services Administration, thePostreported that the government will have paid $144,000 over four years to rent the space when the lease ends in September 2021.
Kay Kendall, who owns the property, told thePost: “I think it was very clear that they just needed a place to take a shower, take a break, use the facilities, have lunch. I’m happy to be able to have helped them.”
“It has been a welcome place for their shift changes and to rest briefly,” Moffett says.
From left: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.Keith Srakocic/AP/REX/Shutterstock
The claim that Ivanka, 39, and Kushner, 40, had refused to let their own security detail use the bathroom was fodder for critics.
Some detractors noted parallels to how the Trump family’s businesshas profited over the yearsfrom the Secret Service being billed while staying at Trump properties during their protective work.
Late-night shows were also quick to chime in.
“I was not a fan of this couple before, but it seems particularly douchey of Jared and Ivanka not to let Secret Service in their bathrooms,“Late ShowhostStephen Colbertsaid. “I’m just saying, these are men and women who literally would take a bullet for you. The least you can do is let them take a leak.”
A White House spokesman, however, pushed back on the story.
He went on: “The Kushners have a tremendous amount of respect for the servicemen and women on their detail and for the United States Secret Service as a whole. Their home will always be open to them and they have immense gratitude for their service over the last four years.”
Moffett, the family’s Kalorama neighbor, says that the brouhaha this week “is the first I’ve ever heard about [the rental] being about a bathroom.”
“I know it’s much more than about a bathroom,” Moffett says. “We’ve had very infrequent contact with the Secret Service guys and women, but they’ve been great.”
source: people.com
