The president did serve hot dogs at that party (as well as brownies, hot fudge ice cream, pizza, soft pretzels, chicken sandwiches, etc.), but we found no reports stating that he purchased $65,000 worth of hot dogs (at $3 a dog, that’s more than 20,000 hot dogs) or that the treats were flown in from Chicago. It’s possible that the original Stratfor email was misstating the facts about a Super Bowl viewing party hosted by President Obama at the White House in February 2009. The email was not accompanied by any evidence to support its literal reading and did not originate with a member of the Obama administration or from anyone in attendance at the alleged hot dog party. It was merely speculation (or possibly an attempt at humor) about a supposed exorbitant expenditure by the Obama administration. This single message was not proof that President Obama ever purchased $65,000 worth of hot dogs.

Stratfor’s Fred Burton responded to an email by writing, “I think Obama spent about $65,000 of the tax-payers money flying in pizza/dogs from Chicago for a private party at the White House not long ago, assume we are using the same channels?” The notion that President Obama purchased $65,000 worth of hot dogs for a private party came from a single email chain published by Wikileaks in October 2012 as part of the so-called “Global Intelligence Files.” This email was not sent by President Obama or any member of his administration rather, the email chain, dated, involved various employees at the intelligence company Stratfor discussing a “Chicago Hot Dog Party.”

Obama hot dog game