<p>"We all are seeing firsthand the struggles that everyday El Paso families have in addition to the challenges we have in our own budget," he added.</p><p><br/></p><p class="media-headline">
<strong>El Paso City Council 11-24-2020 from Shareblue Media on Vimeo</strong></p><script id="3d14008d7e044c36b256c61ff82728bb">
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<p><br/></p><p>The council said it has not yet decided to sue the campaign, but city attorney Karla Nieman <a href="https://www.ktsm.com/news/city-of-el-paso-hires-legal-counsel-to-help-collect-trump-campaigns-outstanding-debt/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> they would be "using various methods to attempt to collect the debt owed to the City of El Paso."</p><p>The city has been facing <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/19/el-paso-trump-rally-debt/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a budget shortfall</a> due to the pandemic. Restrictions on travel have led to severe cuts in sales tax revenue the city previously brought in from shoppers from Mexico. Mayor Dee Margo told the Texas Tribune that since the pandemic began, 26% of small businesses have closed and the city has lost over 15,000 jobs.</p><div class="inarticle_ad_placeholder" data-aa-adunit="/5931858/NatMemo_RM/NatMemo_Middle_Desktop_2" data-aaad="true"></div>
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<div id="vid"></div><p>Svarzbein noted on Tuesday that "th[e] amount of money" outstanding from the rally expenses is therefore "not inconsequential."</p><p>The action to collect on the debt is part of a message being sent that "nobody is above the law," he said.</p><p>Trump held the rally to promote his southern border wall and cited <a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2019/02/factchecking-trumps-el-paso-rally/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">false</a> crime statistics to back the project.</p><p>The campaign initially <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2019/08/05/donald-trump-campaign-el-paso-shooting/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">incurred</a> a fee of $470,417.05 to pay for police and public safety services connected to the event. The city later added a 21% late fee after Trump failed to pay.</p><p>Beto O'Rourke, who was a Democratic presidential candidate and held a rally in El Paso on the same day, paid the city for the services it had provided to his campaign.</p><p>The nonpayment is part of a pattern of behavior from Trump and his failed campaign.</p><p>Even as cities and municipalities continue to struggle with the fallout from the virus, along with traditional government expenses, Trump has thus far failed to pay <a href="https://americanindependent.com/donald-trump-campaign-debt-cities-coronavirus-minneapolis-el-paso-albuquerque-covid-19/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">more than $1.8 million</a> to multiple communities.</p><p>Over the course of the 2020 campaign cycle, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/05/20/858347477/money-tracker-how-much-trump-and-biden-have-raised-in-the-2020-election" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">disclosed</a> that they had raised $1.57 billion, but spent much of the money on ads in states Trump was unlikely to win.</p><p><em>Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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