Police Frustrated with Clinton Campaign Over Unpaid Bills
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa -- The Clinton campaign says as soon as they receive an invoice, they'll pay the Des Moines Police Department for the services they provided at the Katy Perry concert last October. City Hall provided us a copy of the invoice that has already been sent. The invoice is dated November 19, 2015. The bill is nearly $1,800.
The Marshalltown Police Department is dealing with the same problem. “We have requested reimbursement from the Clinton campaign. We haven`t received that payment yet,” said Marshalltown Police Chief Michael Tupper.
Former President Bill Clinton was in Marshalltown on January 15, and he requested and received security assistance from the police. The Marshalltown Police Department has not been paid for the services they provided that day.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held a much larger campaign event in Marshalltown on January 26. On February 3, Chief Tupper sent a letter to the Clinton campaign, detailing the charges (of both her event and her husband’s) and asking to be paid. Tupper says he hasn't received a response, so he sent out another letter today. The bill is nearly $2,700.
“I think the most frustrating part is these events cost a lot of money for our communities and it’s not just law enforcement that’s impacted by these events, but they’re very costly, especially for a small town like Marshalltown, (with) a small police force. They distract us from the other duties of the day and we`re happy to help out, but we don`t have unlimited financial resources that can cover all these security requests,” said Tupper.
Tupper says the department isn't even asking to be paid back for everything; just overtime. “That doesn`t cover the costs that I incurred with captains and lieutenants and supervisors planning the event or detectives getting ready for the event, pre-event. I just ask for my expenses in overtime for the day of the event,” said Tupper.
Donald Trump also held an event in Marshalltown on the same day as Hillary Clinton. The cost of those services provided by Marshalltown police was about $3,600. Tupper says Trump’s check arrived today. “In my 23 year career, the Trump campaign actually paying this large bill is the first time that`s happened to me in my career,” said Tupper. “I’ve been doing this job for 23 years and quite honestly the Trump campaign actually reimbursing for these kinds of expenses is the first time that’s ever happened to me in my entire career, with one exception.” Tupper says the one exception is Bernie Sanders, who also had an event in Marshalltown in January and made arrangements to pay up front.
Tupper says the police department is not asking for the moon and stars, just to be reimbursed. “We have limited resources here. This money is coming out of the City of Marshalltown general fund, the taxpayers of Marshalltown are covering these expenses and we just don`t have the kind of unlimited resources that one might expect to cover these unexpected events,” said Tupper.
When asked for comment, the Iowa Democratic Party referred us to the Clinton Campaign. We are waiting to hear from the Clinton Campaign about the unpaid bill in Marshalltown. Regarding the unpaid bill in Des Moines, Clinton campaign spokesperson Lily Adams said, "We have been in constant communication with the Des Moines Police Department, as recently as this month, to get an invoice and as soon as we receive it we will pay the bill immediately. We appreciate the work they do, including keeping Iowans safe at this event."
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$4500 should be a drop in the bucket for the Clinton Campaign, which currently has over $77million cash on hand.