President Donald Trump’s July Fourth event was a “taxpayer-funded campaign ad,” Walter Shaub, the former head of the Office of Government Ethics, said Friday.
"There you have it. A taxpayer- funded campaign ad. Your tax dollars coopted for the benefit of a man whose idea of public service is the public serving him," wrote Shaub, who was appointed director of the White House ethics office by former President Barack Obama until he left during the Trump administration. He currently works for the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit watchdog group.
"Tens of millions effectively given to the Trump Campaign. This is what it was all about. This and revenue for his hotel," he added.
According to The Hill, the cost of Trump’s “Salute to America” event likely will exceed the $2.5 million allocated by the National Parks Service due to the use of military equipment and the cost of security.
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