Wednesday, Jun. 23, 2021
Is there a history of presidential campaigns declining to pay cities for costs related to campaign events?
Cities that send bills to presidential campaigns for security costs related to campaign events sometimes have a hard time collecting. A 2019 investigation by the Center for Public Integrity found that the Trump campaign owed ten city governments more than $800,000 in policing and other costs related to Trump’s rallies. In 2017, the organization reported that the 2016 Clinton and Sanders campaigns, as well as Trump’s, had unpaid local bills.
The pandemic put a halt to many rallies in 2020, but El Paso hired lawyers to chase $569,000 in costs related to a 2019 visit by Trump. More recently, Albuquerque’s mayor told “The Daily Show” that Trump’s campaign owes the city about $200,000, which a Trump spokesman disputes.
A 2015 news report recounted how one Minnesota county waited 11 years to collect $18,000 from the 2004 Bush campaign, finally writing the debt off.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Center for Public Integrity Why the Trump campaign won’t pay police bills – Center for Public Integrity
- Center for Public Integrity Cities to Trump, Clinton and Sanders: pay your police bills
- El Paso Times Beto O'Rourke pays bill for El Paso rally, Donald Trump still owes $470,000
- KTSM (El Paso) El Paso hires legal counsel to collect Trump campaign’s debt
- Twitter Albuquerque Mayor interview on Trump rally costs
- Twitter Jason Miller tweet disputing Albuquerque's assertion
- StarTribune When candidates come to town, the bill often stays
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