A massive investigation into a "dumb" expenditure by President Donald Trump's White House is being planned that could put more than a handful of administration staffers under oath.
Trump "personally drove" the creation of a controversial, taxpayer-funded video ad promoting himself and his administration's policies, including helping select the imagery and footage used, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Two Trump advisers said the spots were produced in-house by the White House video team, part of the communications operation responsible for the administration's public messaging.
Arriving "just over a month before the midterms," the ads have drawn bipartisan blowback over how the administration is spending taxpayer money, CNN reported.
"It's a great message. I like the message, but it shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters at the Capitol.
According to CNN, "Multiple members of Trump’s political operation said they were unaware that these ads were coming until they aired. But another source pushed back on the notion that anyone was kept in the dark — noting that the president had spoken about the ads to multiple aides and advisers and insisting that they were not being made in secret."
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, went further, warning on X that the ads "may be felony criminal theft and conversion of government property for political campaign purposes."
Raskin — who would gain subpoena power if Democrats retake the House in November — added that making the ads was "a Hatch Act violation for any government employees who worked on it or used government resources to make it."
"This is dumb, dumb, dumb beyond belief," one former Trump campaign official told CNN. "These guys are all gonna get subpoenaed. It's gonna be bad."
The White House has defended the spots as public service announcements akin to past Medicare and vaccine-awareness campaigns, insisting they are "very clearly not campaign ads."