Former White House ethics attorney Richard Painter slammed President Donald Trump’s use of government funds to run political ads promoting himself.
“This could be an impeachable offense,” he wrote on X, adding that Trump “has no right to use taxpayer money for campaign ads.”
The Trump administration has run at least two ads promoting the president. In one, the song “Love Me” played over images of Trump while UFC chief Dana White praised him as “the toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met.” The other was a recycled video from the president’s 2024 campaign.
The White House has insisted both are public service announcements, even though neither promotes the kind of cause or awareness that benefits the public. They do, however, seem to meet the literal definition of propaganda.
“Congress has expressly prohibited government-sponsored political propaganda, which is dangerous for democracy,” Painter, who served as ethics chief in the White House of George W. Bush, wrote on X.
He also linked to a New York Times article on the ads in which he and other ethics experts are quoted.
“The president and his administration have gone from breaking the law to trampling it,” Norm Eisen, a former White House special counsel for ethics and government reform under Barack Obama, told the newspaper. “The prior ad was bad enough, but this one openly repurposes prior political conduct.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said last week the ads are likely illegal.
“This may be felony criminal theft and conversion of government property for political campaign purposes,” he wrote, citing the specific statute.
Even some Republicans who typically support Trump have spoken out against the ads.
“I don’t think any public official, including President Trump or Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“Now, the White House sees it differently. But I think there ought to be a rule,” he said, adding: “Well, there probably is a rule. You can’t spend public money to promote yourself.”