Donald Trump

Alternet -  By now, we all probably have seen ciips from of these three Donald Trump television campaign ads “paid for by the U.S. government.”  And while we’ve seen some bipartisan criticism for Trump blatantly violating federal campaign law, what we haven’t seen is anyone acting to stop him.

Indeed, Trump insists that the ads – at least one of which is mostly video imagery from his own 2024 presidential campaign, thundering against “warmongers” and “communists” – are a benign prod to Americans to vote in the Nov. 3 congressional elections.

Using public tax dollars for a campaign commercial is flatly illegal. Moreover, doing so intentionally is government propaganda, the preferred tool of authoritarian regimes that know they can act with impunity. And apparently, they are just getting started, with $2.5 million worth so far, but plans to spend up to $100 million.

But obviously, a Justice Department remade to protect Trump and aggressively prosecute his political foes is not going to bring charges against the White House or even request a legal injunction to stop them. Where are the state attorneys general to demand that courts pull the ads as illegal interference? For that matter, why do the networks allow the sale of commercial time to what clearly are illegal campaign ads?

…Backed by a largely compliant Supreme Court, Trump has cracked the code on doing whatever he wants in the name of the presidency – despite the tradition that campaigns have been regarded as beyond government behavior. We have Attorney General Todd Blanche and Defense/War Secretary Pete Hegseth openly campaigning – with Hegseth broadly suggesting to military troops to vote Republican – in violation of separate Hatch Act prohibitions.