Former White House ethics lawyer says President Donald Trump’s new taxpayer-funded ad campaign could be an ‘abuse of power’ and ‘an impeachable offense’
Former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter is questioning why taxpayer money is being used to broadcast a 2024 Donald Trump campaign ad as a “public service announcement.”
The New York Times reported that several commercials featuring Trump have recently aired with a “Paid for by the U.S. Government” disclaimer.
The latest spot has raised the most concerns because it reportedly reuses footage and language from one of the president’s previous campaign videos.
Campaign ad
The black-and-white ad shows Trump criticizing the “deep state” and promising to get rid of “warmongers” from the government.
“This is the final battle,” he says in the clip. “With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state. We will expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists.”
“We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news media. And we will liberate America from these villains once and for all,” the president adds.
‘Breaking the law’
According to AdImpact, an analytics firm that provided data for the Times report, more than $70,000 was spent on the ad.
“Some ethics experts have argued that the Trump administration is violating federal laws banning the use of taxpayer dollars for propaganda, and the ads have drawn criticism from both parties,” the publication reported.
Norm Eisen, a former special counsel to Barack Obama, told the Times, “The president and his administration have gone from breaking the law to trampling it. The prior ad was bad enough, but this one openly repurposes prior political conduct.”
‘Abuse of power’
Painter, who worked as a White House ethics lawyer during George W. Bush’s presidency, added that the use of federal funds for the ads could be an “abuse of power” and “an impeachable offense.”
“This is very dangerous,” he said. “We do not allow government-sponsored propaganda in the United States.”
Over the weekend, the repurposed ad reportedly ran during Fox News Sunday, Saturday Night Live and several college and NFL football games.
Defending the ads
The White House defended the ads as “public service announcements,” saying they are meant to remind Americans “to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders and abroad.”
The Times added, “The White House said that there was no ‘call to action’ in the ads.”
However, that explanation hasn’t won over everyone in Congress.
“Four Democratic members of Congress, including the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, have demanded that the White House take down the ads and provide information on the cost of producing and running them,” the report stated.