Top House Judiciary Democrat Asks Watchdogs to Probe Trump Ads

The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is demanding a pair of government watchdog agencies investigate President Donald Trump’s use of taxpayer money to fund an ad campaign promoting his presidency ahead of the midterm elections.

Representative Jamie Raskin called the advertisements, one of which closely resembles an ad from Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, “desperate pre-election propaganda” in a letter to the Government Accountability Office and Office of Special Counsel.

The three advertisements paid for by public funds had by late Wednesday run nearly 3,400 times combined, including during college and professional football games over the weekend, with an estimated cost of $2.9 million, according to AdImpact.

They’ve drawn bipartisan criticism, most notably from Senate Republican leader John Thune. The White House defended using government funds for “public service announcements,” saying they could not be campaign ads because Trump is not on the ballot and the messages do not include a call to action.

Read More: GOP Leader Thune Says Taxpayers Shouldn’t Pay for Trump TV Ads

Raskin and Representative George Whitesides, a California Democrat, asked the GAO to investigate the total cost of the ads and the source of the taxpayer funds, and for both watchdogs to investigate whether the administration violated the law.

Annual spending laws typically bar the use of funds for propaganda. Executive branch employees are barred from engaging in some political activity under a 1939 law, which exempts the president and vice president. A third law bars the administration from spending money not provided by Congress.

Any member of Congress can direct the GAO to investigate an issue, though the agency typically prioritizes investigations required by law, followed by requests from committee chairs and ranking members, like Raskin.

The first ad, which originally aired last week, features Trump comments about defeating communism backed by a song urging the listener to “love me.” The second features snippets of Trump’s Independence Day weekend speech. A third, which is nearly identical to an ad from his presidential campaign, features Trump walking down a hallway and referencing a “final battle.”

Previous administrations have used public money to fund ad campaigns, typically around specific issues, public programs and policies. In some cases, GAO has dinged them for ads it found too overtly political or for inadequately disclosing the source of the advertisement.