Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The complaint alleges that Trump “personally directed this illegal activity.”
A budget line in the border-patrol account normally reserved for military memorials now sits at the center of a federal court fight.
Congress wrote the “Commemorative Events” line into Customs and Border Protection’s funding to pay for memorials and commendation ceremonies for agents killed in the line of duty.
According to two lawsuits filed on Wednesday, the White House used it to pay for something very different: a nationwide ad campaign starring President Donald Trump.
The Democratic National Committee sued the Trump administration, the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of Management and Budget on October 7, arguing in its complaint that the campaign is “a blatant violation of the statutory ban on the use of appropriations for ‘publicity or propaganda purposes.'”
The suit alleges Trump “personally directed this illegal activity.”
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Both lawsuits point to the appropriations provision barring the use of taxpayer funds for “publicity or propaganda purposes” and argue the funding maneuver violates the separation of powers established in the U.S. Constitution.
$20 million contract, more than $12 million already spent
The money came out of a $175 million package Congress assigned to the Department of Homeland Security as part of Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda, according to Al Jazeera.
The Department of Homeland Security awarded a $20 million contract for the campaign, which has cost more than $12 million to run so far, according to media tracking firm AdImpact.
A fifth ad began airing on Tuesday, the day before the filings, carrying a notice that it was paid for by the U.S. government. It promoted Trump’s military actions to capture Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela earlier this year, KSAT reported, citing the Associated Press.
DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement that Trump “is misusing millions of taxpayer dollars to fund pure propaganda ads in a last-ditch attempt to save Republicans in November.”
A parallel suit in New York
Later on Wednesday, the legal advocacy group Democracy Forward filed a parallel suit in federal court in New York on behalf of Common Cause, a New York public employee union, and a Democratic state legislative candidate in Alabama.
The complaint asks the court to declare the ads illegal, stop the spending, and recover money already spent.
The White House has defended the campaign as public-service material comparable to spots run by past administrations.
On Monday, Trump said he would start paying for future ads through his MAGA Inc. super PAC.
On Tuesday, asked by reporters whether taxpayers would be reimbursed for what has already been spent, he said, “We’ll decide.”
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday found that 86 percent of Americans surveyed, including four out of five Republicans, said it was inappropriate for Trump to have used public money for the ads.
