Documents have been revealed that show the campaign of President Donald Trump attempted to take $250 million from taxpayers to fund his re-election campaign.
What We Know:
- According to Yahoo News, Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi spoke with CNN Jake Tapper On Thursday, regarding President Donald Trump’s attempt to take funds for COVID-19 education and reallocate to boost his re-election campaign.
“We found two things Jake, first of all, the Trump administration tried to use $250 million of taxpayer money that was otherwise dedicated in the CDC for education-related purposes to deal with the COVID pandemic on basically what amounted to a slush fund for the campaign of the president to get reelected. The second thing that we found is that they basically compiled a Joseph McCarthy‘-Esque list of celebrities, 274 of them, and evaluated them based on their political preferences.”
Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi says documents reveal that the Trump administration attempted to use $250 million of taxpayer money, meant for Covid-19 education purposes, as a “slush fund” to help President Trump’s reelection campaign by trying to rebrand the pandemic. pic.twitter.com/KEBsLRUBc9
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) October 29, 2020
- It was reported by Politico, that a member of President Donald Trump’s ad campaign helped steer $300 million in taxpayer revenue attempted to rebrand the coronavirus campaign. The member that led the campaign to “defeat despair and inspire hope” created a new concept pitch called, “Helping the President will Help the Country,” which included a massive push through a public announcement that involved celebrities such as, Cece Winans.
- A report was created that was sent to the Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Alzar, according to the Washington Post, three high ranking democrats some documents showed HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Micheal Caputo sought to use taxpayers funds for the re-election campaign.
- During the vetting process for the public health campaign, celebrities were chosen based on their stances on President Trump, former President Barrack Obama, gay rights, and same-sex marriage. The Washington Post reports that out of the 274 celebrities considered only 10 were approved.
- Documents have been requested by Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform; James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), chairman of the Oversight committee’s select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis; and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chairman of the Oversight committee’s subcommittee on economic and consumer policy.
- The Washington Post reports in a letter to Alex Alzar:
“Your failure to provide the documents we requested — especially in light of the information we have learned from the contractors — appears to be part of a coverup to conceal the Trump Administration’s misuse of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for partisan political purposes ahead of the upcoming election, and to direct taxpayer funds to friends and allies of Trump Administration officials.”
These documents are to be provided by Azar and HHS by November 10.
