The Trump administration had faced questions over whether it illegally used taxpayer money to air television ads promoting Donald Trump five weeks before the US midterm elections.
Two congressional Democrats, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and George Whitesides of California, asked federal watchdogs to investigate the ads.
Raskin, the top Democrat on the judiciary committee of the House of Representatives, and Whitesides wrote to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the office of special counsel (OSC), describing the commercials as “desperate pre-election propaganda”.
The first ad was initially broadcast on 23 September. It shows dozens of images of Trump as a singer repeats “love me”, and the UFC president, Dana White, praises the president. A second ad, which aired days later, pairs footage of Trump with audio from a rally criticizing the “deep state”. Both end with fine print saying they were paid for by the US government.
“President Trump is obviously desperate for the American people to ‘love’ him, a problem that goes beyond your jurisdiction,” Raskin and Whitesides wrote in their letter. “But stealing taxpayer dollars to pay for Mr Trump’s narcissistic ego trips is plainly illegal.”
The lawmakers asked the GAO to identify the source and total amount of money used, and to issue a legal decision on whether the ads broke the law. They asked the OSC to investigate and determine who should be held accountable.
