DNC sues Trump administration over taxpayer-funded TV ads promoting president

The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday sued President Donald Trump’s administration for recent television advertisements that promoted his political message while costing taxpayers millions of dollars. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that the ads are illegal government-sponsored propaganda and accuses Trump of personally directing them. It asks the court to declare the ads illegal and stop the use of federal funds to pay for them. Trump has faced bipartisan backlash for the ads, which glorify him and echo his campaign pitch as voters cast early ballots with the midterm elections less than a month away. The spots, which began airing in September, already have cost more than $12 million to run, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact, and a total of $20 million in Homeland Security Department funding has been tapped to pay for them. Responding Monday to the criticism, Trump defended the ads as “positive promotion for our Great USA” but said he’d pay for them using his MAGA Inc. super PAC going forward. Read moreTrump targets tax-free diesel as Republicans approach midterms But on Tuesday, the fifth ad in the campaign b...