The El Paso City Council has voted unanimously to hire lawyers in their fight to get paid nearly $570,000 in total charges owed by President Donald Trump's reelection campaign from a rally held in the city in February 2019, KTSM reported.
The campaign owed approximately $470,000, mainly from services provided by the city’s police force and fire department in connection with the Trump rally, but since then some $100,000 in late fees have been added.
City Rep. Peter Svarzbein said during a council meeting on Tuesday that “We all are seeing firsthand the struggles that everyday El Paso families have, in addition to the challenges that we have in our own budget. So this amount of money is not inconsequential and also the message that we send that nobody is above the law is also an important one for our community to understand as well.”
The city had also considered suing the Trump campaign for the money owed, but city attorney Karla Nieman said Tuesday that El Paso does not currently plan to take that path in trying to collect the money, according to The Texas Tribune.
A Trump campaign official told The Hill that it isn't responsible for city contracts connected to police services.
“It is the U.S. Secret Service, not the campaign, which coordinates with local law enforcement," the official said. "The campaign itself does not contract with local governments for police involvement. All billing inquiries should go to the Secret Service."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.