[UPDATE] Trump defends his border-funded TV ads, and FCC chair Brendan Carr says they raise no red flags
Trump: "I'm not running for office."
Trump called the three ads "ads for the country." He said "if somebody said that that's wrong, I'll gladly pay the money." FCC Chair Brendan Carr said nothing in them merits FCC review. The Washington Post, citing AdImpact, counted 38 spots on MS NOW and 10 on CNN. Those are the two networks Trump has tried to bar from White House grounds.
PREVIOUSLY
On Sept. 20, Customs and Border Protection paid all $20 million to Maryland ad firm LMD Agency, one day after the money moved into a 'commemorative events' account. A Senate Republican committee chair and the administration then confirmed that money paid for Trump's TV ads.
Spend and pushback:
- At least $2.87 million has aired, per AdImpact data in a Washington Post report on Wednesday, Sept. 30. ABC News put it at $1.7 million on Sept. 25.
- The total pot is $20 million, all of it border-security money.
- The watchdog group CREW filed a complaint with the DHS inspector general on Sept. 30.
- House Homeland Security Democrats asked for CBP's records by Wednesday, Oct. 7.
- Senate Democratic appropriators gave DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin 48 hours on Sept. 29 to say which funds paid. No reply has been reported.
- FCC commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, called Carr's call a "double standard" in the FCC's investigative decisions.