House Judiciary ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) sent a letter Wednesday to U.S. watchdog and investigative agencies requesting two investigations into the Trump administration advertisements paid for by taxpayer dollars.
Raskin, along with Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA), asked the Government Accountability Office, the government watchdog, and the Office of Special Counsel to launch investigations into three pro-Trump government-funded ads that recently began airing on TV.
“President Trump is obviously desperate for the American people to ‘love’ him, a problem that goes beyond your jurisdiction,” the two members wrote. “But stealing taxpayer dollars to pay for Mr. Trump’s narcissistic ego trips is plainly illegal. Your agencies have an important responsibility to hold accountable members of his Administration who violate the laws and policies under your purview.”
The letter outlines four ways the ads allegedly violate federal statutes, including a law that prohibits the use of public money for government propaganda; the Hatch Act, which prohibits executive branch employees from engaging in “pernicious” political activities; and federal law prohibiting the use or conversion of public funds to which someone is not entitled.
The fourth alleged violation points to a law that bars the government from spending more money on an “expenditure or obligation” than the amount that has been appropriated by Congress.
The White House released U.S. government-funded political ads, spending more than $1.5 million on them since last week, according to AdImpact.
The advertising campaign has drawn criticism from those on the Left and the Right, who chided the administration for using taxpayer dollars for ads that appear political in nature.
“This is the sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea, not the United States of America, and it is an egregious and utterly illegal misuse of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Jack Reed (D-RI) and Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) wrote in a letter to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told CBS over the weekend that “no public official including President Trump or Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves.”
A White House spokesperson denied they were political ads, calling them instead “public service announcements” and adding they are “educational and unapologetically patriotic.”
“These public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad,” the spokesperson said.
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Raskin’s letter pushed back on the sentiment that the ads were public service announcements, saying “nearly every claim uttered in these ads is false,” pointing to one ad that claimed Trump revived American manufacturing.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the GAO, OSC, and the White House for comment.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
