Why DeSantis’ Texas border trip 'appears to constitute a campaign finance violation': analysis

28 June 2023

When Ron DeSantis made a campaign visit to Eagle Pass, Texas near the U.S./Mexico border on Monday, June 26, the far-right Florida governor and GOP presidential hopeful was trying to show MAGA voters that he is tougher on illegal immigration than former President Donald Trump. DeSantis even promised to end birthright citizenship if elected president, and his critics were quick to point out that the protection he is campaigning against has been in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment since 1868.

During the visit, DeSantis' allies photographed him in front of a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter. But promoting that photo, according to the Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger, could be problematic from a legal standpoint.

Sollenberger, in an article published on June 28, explains, "His trip to the border is now raising legal questions about who paid for the junket and why the campaign was granted access to Texas government property to promote a political event in the first place. The questions notably apply on the Texas side as well, where state law bans the use of public resources in support of candidates for political office."

Legal experts, according to Sollenberger, "say his use of Texas government resources for his own political purposes appears to constitute a campaign finance violation."

Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform for the Campaign Legal Center, told the Daily Beast that if DeSantis used government resources to promote his presidential run, the campaign will need to "reimburse the State of Texas for the cost, or else, he's received an unreported and likely excessive in-kind contribution."

Ghosh pointed out, "If he misuses public resources to run for president, it's an abuse of his position and a likely violation of federal campaign finance laws."

Similarly, Jordan Libowitz, communications director for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), told the Daily Beast that taxpayer-funded government resources "should not be used to help a candidate for partisan political office."

Sollenberger notes that although the Florida governor "could theoretically duck repercussions by simply reimbursing the State of Texas," his use of that helicopter in a photo "is much harder to clear up on the Texas side, where state law restricts the use of public resources for political activity."

"DeSantis and his allies in the Texas state government can claim the border trip was official business, but his campaign's decision to post a photo of the Florida governor on Twitter from a campaign account make that argument harder — as does holding a political speech, where DeSantis railed against the border policies of President Joe Biden and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump," Sollenberger reports. "DeSantis' campaign also promoted his speech with a video decrying the 'invasion' of undocumented immigrants."

DeSantis, according to recent polls, is presently the #2 candidate in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. The governor's cheerleaders view him as their party's best chance to move on from Trump next year and defeat Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden in the general election.

But polls released in late June have found Trump holding strong as the primary's frontrunner. An NBC News poll showed Trump leading DeSantis by 29 percent, while an Emerson College poll showed DeSantis trailing the ex-president by 38 percent.

The Daily Beast's full report can be found at this link (subscription required).

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