US judge orders halt to taxpayer-funded promo ads of Trump
Last week, President Donald Trump said he considered the ads to be a "positive promotion for our great USA." However, the New York district judge ruled that the commercials were an illegal misuse of funds.
US President Donald Trump must cancel any remaining television ads paid for with millions in taxpayer money for political promotions, a federal court judge ruled on Sunday night, granting a temporary restraining order.
This comes after publicly funded television ads promoting Trump began airing in late September, sparking bipartisan backlash.
The commercials feature Trump promoting his policies and warning against communism and a "final battle" against "globalists".
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They end with a disclaimer saying they were paid for by the US government.
What did the judge say?
New York District Judge Jennifer L Rochon called the commercials an illegal misuse of funds, siding with a coalition that includes the nonpartisan watchdog Common Cause.
"Defendants shall not enter into, renew, or expand any agreement authorising the development, creation, dissemination, placement, or airing of the challenged advertisements" during the two-week duration of her order, the judge said.
The court ordered the halt even as the administration said the ad campaign was coming to an end. In a court filing late on Saturday, the Justice Department had argued that the temporary restraining order was unnecessary because "the alleged offending conduct will end tomorrow".
What is the controversy?
The Department of Homeland Security tapped $20 million (€17.8 million) in taxpayer funds to run the ads in question.
Legal experts argue that this violates a federal statute prohibiting the use of congressionally appropriated money for "publicity or propaganda", along with potentially other laws.
On Monday, Trump said he considered the ads "rather standard" and a "positive promotion for our great USA", but that they would no longer be funded by taxpayers.
The White House said last week that the president's political action committee would fund the ads going forward but would not reimburse taxpayers for those that had already run at public expense.
"There is no legal justification — and no precedent — for the president to use the machinery of the government and funds set aside by Congress for other uses to influence electoral outcomes that further his own agenda," the plaintiffs said in a statement issued by Democracy Forward, a non-profit organisation that represents them.
"We won't stop until this administration is held fully accountable, and no president from any party can waste and abuse taxpayer funds for propaganda ever again," said Common Cause President and CEO Virginia Kase Solomon.
The plaintiffs, which included a public employee union and a candidate for Alabama state representative, urged the judge to block the ads by Friday so they would not air during weekend programming, such as football games and Saturday Night Live.
US Democrats have also challenged the ads in a separate suit filed at a federal court in Washington.
