Vice President JD Vance’s team made the extraordinary decision to raise the water level of an Ohio river during a Vance family boating excursion.
The request was made by the U.S. Secret Service in order to support the safe navigation of Vance’s security detail down the Little Miami River, where Vance and his family recently spent his 41st birthday, according to an exclusive in The Guardian Wednesday.
Vance and his family were spotted going down the river by locals over the weekend, the report noted, citing social media posts. Vance was said to be seen canoeing on the river. One Reddit user specifically noted the presence of Secret Service agents.
“Bridge and traffic were disrupted in Milford because someone wanted to canoe down the Little Miami River this morning,” the Saturday post read.
A spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers told The Guardian that their Louisville office had received “a request to temporarily increase outflows from Caesar Creek Lake to support safe navigation of U.S. Secret Service personnel.”
An anonymous source alleged that the request was also made in order to create “ideal kayaking conditions” for the vice president and his family. The Guardian could not independently confirm the claim.
A source familiar with the situation told the Daily Beast that a safety boat ran aground on the Little Miami River during a scouting trip conducted ahead of Vance’s visit, prompting the Secret Service to make the decision to raise the water level for “security reasons.”
A Secret Service spokesperson told the Daily Beast, “The Secret Service in close coordination with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Army Corps of Engineers conducted operational planning to ensure that motorized watercraft and emergency personnel could operate safely with appropriate water levels during a recent visit.”
”While we cannot discuss the specifics of our operational planning, the Secret Service would like to recognize our partners from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers for providing a safe and secure environment for our personnel and law enforcement partners.”
A spokesperson for Vance told the Daily Beast, “The Secret Service often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the Vice President or his staff, as was the case last weekend.”
Norm Eisen, a former White House special counsel for ethics and government reform, told the newspaper that while he received a lot of “unusual” requests during his time with President Barack Obama, “I never got one to increase the outflow of a waterway as part of a government official going kayaking.”
“My nickname was ‘Mr No’ and I certainly would have lived up to it in this situation. I never would have permitted this kind of a thing because whether it technically violates the rules or not, it creates the appearance that the vice president of the United States is getting special treatment that’s not available to the average person who wants to utilize that body of water for recreational purposes.”
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data for Caesar Creek Lake shows a sharp increase in water surface elevation followed by a sudden drop around early August, during the time the Vance family was vacationing in the area.
In a statement to The Guardianthe Secret Service said that it had worked with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and USACE to plan the safe passage of motorized boats during a recent visit, but that it could not discuss specifics.
As The Guardian notes, USACE has modified water levels before upon request, including for community events or when training emergency responders, but their anonymous source also notes that requests designed to accommodate individuals are incredibly rare.
In response to an enquiry from The Guardian about whether the decision to alter the water levels was properly documented, a spokesperson for USACE said that the request from the Secret Service “met the operational criteria outlined in the Water Control Manual for Caesar Creek Lake and did not require a deviation from normal procedures”.
“It was determined that the operations would not adversely affect downstream or upstream water levels,” the spokesperson added.
Vance’s family vacations have become online fodder since the 41-year-old took office alongside Trump.
A Vance family trip to Disneyland last month drew crowds of protesters already incensed by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Los Angeles. California Governor Gavin Newsom even weighed in, tweeting, “Hope you enjoy your family time, @JDVance. The families you’re tearing apart certainly won’t.”
Vance was also confronted by protesters during a family ski vacation in Vermont earlier this yearwith many expressing their frustrations at the administration’s handling of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Lest Vance consider overseas vacations a quieter alternative, protestors in the U.K. have announced plans to disrupt the Vance family’s upcoming vacation to the Cotswolds later this month.
A spokesperson for the Stop Trump coalition, which also protested President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Scotland, told The Telegraph that even in the countryside, Vance “will find the resistance waiting.”
“J.D. Vance is every bit as unwelcome in the U.K. as Donald Trump,” they added.