Jamie Raskin (Rep-D Maryland) and George Whitesides (Rep-D California) want two watchdogs to probe a new government-paid ad celebrating the Iran war. The 1-minute spot aired on Fox News. They asked the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Special Counsel to investigate.
On Sept. 20, Customs and Border Protection paid the full $20 million to LMD Agency, a Maryland ad firm, for Trump TV ads. A day earlier, the White House budget office had moved that border-security money into a "commemorative events" account. Trump then defended the ads: "I'm not running for office."
- Patty Murray (Sen-D Washington) introduced a bill to cut the White House budget office's funding by $20 million for each "propaganda" violation.
- A DHS official told NBC that senior Customs and Border Protection leaders were cut out of the decision to buy the ads.
- Raskin and Whitesides: "stealing taxpayer dollars to pay for Mr Trump's narcissistic ego trips is plainly illegal."