Trump Campaign Owes El Paso Over $500,000 From a 2019 Rally
The city plans to get the money saying that no one is above the law.
The city of El Paso has been trying to get the money from the Trump Campaign for months now, from a rally that was held at the El Paso County Coliseum in February last year. The event cost the city $470,000 in security and other expenses. El Paso says that since the campaign has refused to pay, it has accrued $99,000 in late fees.
“We are all seeing firsthand the struggles that everyday El Paso families have, in addition to the challenges that we have in our own budget,” City Representative Peter Svarzbein said in a Tuesday meeting. “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 has hired outside council to get the debt paid. The council is working on contingency which means they don't get paid, until the campaign's debt is paid. At one point, the city was considering a lawsuit. They have decided to not go down that path at this time.
El Paso, like many other Texas cities, is having a budget shortfall because of the Coronavirus pandemic. They're having to cut around 24 million from their budget, so having a debt of half a million dollars is pretty significant. The city says they will be going through various methods to collect the debt from the Trump campaign.