Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and California Democratic Representative George Whitesides this week called for an investigation into President Trump’s use of taxpayer funds to produce and distribute ads that promote the administration just weeks ahead of the midterm elections, according to Politico.
In a letter to the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Special Counsel, the Congressmen ask the GAO to investigate the “source, accounts, and total amount of taxpayer funds used by the Executive Office of the President to produce and distribute this advertisement across major television markets and official White House social media channels.”
Raskin, currently the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee could potentially lead a Congressional investigation if Democrats take control of the House, which is widely expected next month.
In their letter, Whitesides and Raskin also asked the Office of Special Counsel to determined whether the ads “paid for by millions of dollars of taxpayer funds, constitute a violation of the Hatch Act, and determine who should be held accountable.”
The ads, which began running on Sunday, promote what President Trump calls his administration's “successes,” declaring that “America will never be a Communist country,” and end with the phrase “paid for by the U.S. government.”
“These ads constitute an illegal use of taxpayer funds, perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that they are virtually identical to the ones Donald Trump used during his 2024 presidential campaign, and in fact use the same footage and the same inept ideological messaging,” they wrote.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr dismissed such concerns over the ads. When asked about them this week during a press conference, the chairman said that “there’s nothing in there that strikes me as out of the ordinary or that would merit any sort of FCC review,” adding that “there are groups on the left that have long worked and pushed to weaponize the FCC’s license renewal process. I’m sure they’ll do it again in the future. Again with respect to these, they are normal PSAs that don’t raise any red flags.”
Several senators are accusing the administration of diverting $20 million from Customs and Border Protection to “bankroll the obscene political ads,” an accusation that was confirmed by an official and a top Republican senator to NBC News.
The White House also dismissed such concerns.
A spokesperson described them as “public service announcements,” despite the timing, saying such ads are a reminder to viewers “to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad. The ad is educational and unapologetically patriotic. We should be proud of our country.”
