Trump campaign going on seven year debt to El Paso
Editor's note: This article has been corrected to better explain what El Paso County Republican Chair Michael Aboud told ABC-7. We originally said Aboud said the Trump campaign should pay back the city of El Paso, but that O'Rourke should've paid more. But Aboud later told ABC-7 that he said that the Trump campaign should only pay the quote before O'Rourke announced his event. He said when O'Rourke announced his event, Trump was also charged for that event. To clarify, a previous version of this article said O'Rourke did pay in invoice to the City of El Paso. The $28,000 he paid the City was related to the rally where he launched his presidential bid in March of 2019, a month after Trump's rally.
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)-- President Trump's campaign is going on a seven year half a million debt owed to the City of El Paso after a 2019 campaign visit.
According to an invoice obtained by ABC-7 dating back to 2019, the city of El Paso spent more than $470,000 when then-President Donald Trump visited the city that year.
Records show the airport, police and fire departments accounted for the bulk of the costs, primarily for safety and security services tied to the visit.
When the city did not receive payment, officials added a one-time late fee, bringing the total owed to $569,204.63.
District 7 City Rep. Lily Limón has placed an item on next week’s City Council agenda requesting quarterly updates on efforts to collect the outstanding balance.
“We all pay our bills, or we should all be paying our bills,” Limón said.
Her proposal calls for the city manager and city attorney to provide quarterly reports to the mayor and City Council detailing the status of the debt, including how often invoices are sent and what steps are taken when payment is not received.
“What has happened since the last invoicing to the campaign? We can look at that data. We can also look at, well, how often are you billing? How long do you bill? Do you give up after 30 days? Do you give up after 90, 120? What is the process for that?” Limón said.
Limón said the city could put the money to use if it is recovered.
“About $600,000 in a community that is strapped for money, that we really don’t have the ability to go off and do crazy projects or big things,” she said. “It only stands to reason that if we can get this money back, it’d be a success story for our community.”
However, Limón said she is not counting on repayment.
“I’m not a betting person. He does an excellent job of shaming people, and he needs to accept the responsibility that his campaign has not paid the citizens of El Paso for the services that were rendered to him,” she said.
According to the City of El Paso's spokeswoman: "The Trump campaign has not submitted any payments for their debt. The El Paso City Council unanimously took action in November 2020, to hire the Law Offices of Snapper L. Carr to advocate in the City’s interest in the collection of the outstanding invoices. The City continues to seek the payment of these past due expenses, so City taxpayers do not continue have to bear the cost."
We have reported the debt previously.
The cost breakdown:
$470,417.05 (initial costs)
+$98,787.58 (ONE-TIME late fee of 21%)
= $569,204.63 (total owed)
Former El Paso Congressman Beto O'Rourke participated in a counter rally on the same day in 2019, just a block from Trump's rally.
The chairman of the El Paso Republican Party Michael Aboud said that he believes Trump should only pay the city the original quote before O'Rourke announced his event. Aboud said when O’Rourke announced his event, Trump was also charged for officers who participate in that event. He belives O'Rourke should've paid for the additional services for the counter rally.
ABC-7 asked Aboud what the original quote was. He said he was going to look into it.
We also asked the City of El Paso about that original quote.
"I don’t know what he’s talking about," City spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta said in an email. "I’m assuming Mr. Aboud has proof of his claims."
ABC-7 filed an open records for information on any original quotes offered to Trump, and who - if anyone - was charged for security or other services related to the counter rally where O'Rourke participated.
