Attorney General Bonta Demands Federal Watchdogs Investigate Trump’s Taxpayer-Funded Political Ads

On heels of more ads aired during Sunday football, Attorney General Bonta submits complaint with Government Accountability Office and Office of Special Counsel

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today submitted a complaint with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) urging an investigation into President Trump's misuse of taxpayer funds for partisan political purposes. Beginning on September 23, 2026, a series of political ads - featuring President Trump and with the disclosure "paid for by the U.S. government" - began airing on Fox News, CNN, and MS Now. These ads, clearly designed to support the President's political party ahead of the midterms, have reportedly cost U.S. taxpayers at least $5.5 million to date and violate multiple federal laws, including the Hatch Act.

"Californians should not have to pay for President Trump's political grandstanding. There's a reason there are laws in place that bar the use of taxpayer funds for political purposes. Yet, once again, this weekend, we saw shocking taxpayer-funded Trump campaign ads air in the middle of Sunday football," said Attorney General Bonta. "It's propaganda - plain and simple. It's also illegal. I call on federal watchdogs to investigate and prosecute this staggering misuse of public funding and breach of public trust."

In the complaint, Attorney General Bonta urges the GAO to investigate and issue a legal opinion on the taxpayer-funded political ad campaign that has aired on national television broadcasts and social media sites, including during NFL football games as recently as this weekend. This ad campaign violates federal law barring the use of taxpayer dollars to create partisan and self-aggrandizing publicity or propaganda. Tellingly, one ad is effectively a frame-by-frame replica of a partisan ad produced and aired by the Trump campaign during the 2024 election cycle.

Attorney General Bonta also calls on OSC to investigate and prosecute related violations of the Hatch Act - a nearly century-old law banning federal employees from engaging in partisan activity while on duty. These flagrant violations of longstanding federal laws that prevent waste of taxpayer funds and prohibit abuse of government resources for partisan political purposes must be investigated, remediated, and as necessary, prosecuted.

Attorney General Bonta has been outspoken in defense of the rule of law and against government corruption. Earlier this year, Attorney General Bonta led a coalition in asking a judge to closely scrutinize President Trump's manufactured "settlement" agreement with his own U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) granting him and his family immunity from all investigations and prosecutions related to past conduct and requiring DOJ to establish a $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization" fund. The Attorney General also sent letters to DOJ raising alarm about the abuse of executive power with the indictments of New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey and challenging Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr's campaign of censorship that led to the suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

Along with other state attorneys general, he issued an open letter to the legal community in response to President Trump's calls for the impeachment of federal judges and threats of retribution against law firms. He stood with WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and Perkins Coie in amicus briefs in support of their lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration's retaliatory executive orders targeting law firms that represent clients or positions it disagrees with. And he issued a separate statement on the need to speak up and push back when our democratic norms are violated, our legal system is undermined, and our laws are broken.