Trump can use the Secret Service to bilk taxpayers for unlimited cash: Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter

Former President Donald Trump has continued charging the United States Secret Service for using his properties -- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold says Trump could theoretically use the Secret Service to bilk taxpayers for as much money as he wanted.

Fahrenthold, who has been tracking Trump's charges to the Secret Service since he left office in January, noted on Twitter Monday that Trump has been charging the Secret Service $17,000 per month to rent a cottage at his Bedminster resort, while also charging the Secret Service nearly $400 per night to rent a single room at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

"In Bedminster, $17K/month is a lot higher than the going rate in the area," wrote Fahrenthold. "At Mar-a-Lago, $396.15 is more than triple the government's per-diem spending limit on hotels in the area, which was $121 in May and June."

A follower then asked Fahrenthold how Trump gets away with charging so much more than the per-diem spending limit, and he replied that the Secret Service does not face such limits.

"They can spend whatever they need to, to stay close to the people they protect," he explained. "Which means Trump can legally charge the Secret Service whatever he wants: the only limit would be his sense of what's excessive."