J.D. Vance security team requested higher water level of river in Ohio for veep’s trip

The Secret Service asked the Army Corps of Engineers and Ohio officials to increase the flow of a lake-fed river to accommodate Vice President J.D. Vance’s security team while Mr. Vance and his family were visiting for an excursion.

The request to “temporarily increase outflows from Caesar Creek Lake to support safe navigation of US Secret Service personnel” was made to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Mr. Vance’s visit to the Little Miami River last weekend for his birthday, the corps said in a statement, according to a report from The Guardian Wednesday.

The USACE said in a statement, “Their request 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 corps said that downstream stakeholders were notified ahead of time of the change in outflow.

A source familiar with the matter said that Secret Service did a joint scouting mission ahead of the Vance family’s trip and one of the public safety boats ran aground during the mission, which then spurred the request to raise the water level of the river.

The source said any claims that the water level was raised to help kayaking conditions are false.

A spokesperson for Mr. Vance said the Secret Service “often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the Vice President or his staff, as was the case last weekend.”

The Little Miami River is fed by the lake.

The Secret Service said in a statement that the agency “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.”

The spokesperson said it could not discuss the specifics of operational planning, but that the Army Corps of Engineers and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources provided “a safe and secure environment for our personnel and law enforcement partners.”

Water data from the U.S. Geological Survey showed a drop in the water level of Caesar Creek Lake between Friday and Saturday and a rise in levels for the river.

Some have criticized the move, including Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush.

“It’s outrageous for the Army corps of engineers to spend taxpayer money to increase water flow in a river so JD Vance can go canoeing when budget cuts to the National Park Service have severely impacted family vacations for everyone else,” he said in an X post.

The Guardian reported that there are no allegations that the vice president’s office did anything illegal.

The episode was reminiscent, though for different reasons, of an incident with Vice President Al Gore in July 1999. At the time, a utility in New Hampshire released a reported 4 billion gallons of water into the drought-stricken Connecticut River to keep Mr. Gore’s canoe afloat for photographers.

New Hampshire officials released the water from a dam at the request of the Secret Service, The Washington Times reported back then.