- Sign up HERE to our DC Insider newsletter - your guide to what's rocking Washington, rattling the White House and setting tongues wagging on the Hill
The Justice Department issued a rare apology Monday to a federal judge and a coalition of watchdog groups after a series of pro-Trump campaign ads continued to run on national television hundreds of times despite an emergency court order.
asserted
series → sign → order
'The undersigned apologizes to the Court and the plaintiffs,' a lawyer for the Justice Department said in an update to US District Judge Jennifer Rochon Monday evening.
asserted
lawyer → apologize → Rochon
Rochon had sided with a coalition of watchdog groups Sunday night in ruling that the pro-Trump taxpayer-funded television spots were likely unlawful, and ordered them off the airwaves immediately.
asserted
spots → side → airwaves
She also ordered the government to cancel any future air time for the ads.
asserted
She → order → ads
The Trump administration's lawyer also sought to explain that in the filing, telling Rochon that, due to the government holiday Monday, some of the federal employees had not immediately seen the emergency order, which delayed their cancellation of airtime that had already been purchased.
asserted
that → seek → airtime
The DOJ lawyer told the court that the Trump administration understands it has been instructed by the court to refrain from 'disbursing, or transferring' the remaining $20 million in taxpayer funds to 'develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish, or air' the advertisements in question.
asserted
it → tell → question
Trump arrives to speak at the Republican National Committee midterm convention in Dallas, Texas.
asserted
Trump → arrive → Dallas
A series of pro-Trump campaign ads sparked ethics concerns ahead of the midterm elections
Attendees cheer during the second day of the Republican National Committee midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas
asserted
Attendees → spark → Dallas
The ads showed moments from Trump's second term and declared 'America will never be a communist country'
The rare apology from DOJ comes hours after plaintiffs in the case - led by the nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause, the group Democracy Forward, and others told Rochon in a Monday afternoon filing that the pro-Trump ads continued to run for hours after her emergency order, and had ran in 'nearly 400 spots' on national television after her order took force.
asserted
order → show → force
They asked the court in the filing to schedule a status conference to determine the Trump administration's compliance.
asserted
They → ask → compliance
It is not clear whether Rochon will proceed with scheduling a status conference following the new information from DOJ.
asserted
Rochon → proceed → DOJ
The update comes as ethics lawyers - and some Republicans in Congress - had cited deep concerns with the ads, which some lawyers said could violate the Hatch Act, or the 1939 law that limits the political involvement of most executive branch employees.
uncertain
that → come → employees
'The president and his administration have gone from breaking the law to trampling it,' Norm Eisen, a former White House ethics czar during the Obama administration, told the New York Times of the taxpayer-funded ads.
asserted
Eisen → go → ads
The White House, for its part, previously defended the ads as 'educational' and 'unconditionally patriotic' public service announcements.
asserted
House → defend → announcements
A White House spokesperson told the Daily Mail earlier this month that the updated ads are 'not unlike' public service announcements (PSAs) run by previous administrations - including under former President Barack Obama and former President George W Bush.
asserted
ads → tell → Obama
The televised ad spots are 'clearly not political' and do not have a 'call to action,' a White House spokesperson told the Daily Mail in response to an earlier request for comment.
asserted
spokesperson → televise → comment
'These public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad,' the spokesperson said then.
asserted
spokesperson → remind → borders
Trump has faced week of backlash over the ads, which were funded by nearly $20 million in taxpayer funds, and which were nearly identical to the television spots he ran as a presidential candidate in 2024.
asserted
he → face → 2024
Trump, who is not on the ballot, featured heavily in all of the televised spots, which ended with the line: 'Paid for by the US government.'
asserted
which → feature → government
The Aporia
