Federal judge immediately shuts down taxpayer-funded pro-Trump ad campaign in firm ruling

A federal judge stepped in on Sunday to stop the Trump administration from running commercials allegedly paid for with public money, as reported by NBC News. The judge said the spots that show Trump in a good way must go off the air right now.

The case was brought in by four plaintiffs: a public watchdog group called Common Cause, Robert Hunter, who is running as a Democrat for a state House seat in Alabama, a labor union based in New York, and its political action group. The ads have also faced criticism from both parties.

The Democratic National Committee and other groups had filed similar complaints to pull the spots off television screens before the judge made her move. “Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they are likely to succeed on the merits, will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction, the balance of the equities tips in their favor, and an injunction serves the public interest,” U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon of the Southern District of New York wrote in a federal court order. 

“Influence electoral outcomes that further his own agenda”

In court papers filed on Saturday, federal staff said the Department of Homeland Security had bought airtime through Sunday using an outside seller. They said they had told the seller not to buy any spots after that day. Rochon ordered to “cancel or cause to be cancelled” any spots set to air, including clips meant for Sunday night.

Rochon also banned the staff from using money given to Homeland Security to “develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish, or air the challenged advertisements.” The people who sued said they were glad the court stepped in so quickly to stop tax cash from going toward what they called illegal political spin.

“There is no legal justification — and no precedent — for the president to use the machinery of the government and funds set aside by Congress for other uses to influence electoral outcomes that further his own agenda,” the plaintiffs said in a statement issued by Democracy Forward.

Common Cause chief Virginia Kase Solomón said the legal fight will go on despite the win in court. Solomón said her group wants to make sure no leader from any party can ever misuse tax money for hype again.