The City of Albuquerque has hired a collection agency to pursue a debt totaling $211,175 owed by Donald Trump’s presidential reelection campaign for his 2019 rally.
The city stated it incurred costs of $7,102 for barricades, assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department totaled $71,242, and the costs associated with employees taking paid time off amounted to $132,831. The charges come from blocking off City Hall and parts of downtown and overtime pay for police officers, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
A spokeswoman for Rio Rancho, where the rally was held, said the campaign “made it clear that they would not reimburse the City for those ancillary costs that occurred outside of the event.” The campaign has not paid Rio Rancho $239,475 associated with the costs of the rally.
Bernalillo County, which also sent the reelection campaign an invoice for the 2019 visit, wrote off $139,183.52 as a bad debt.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller told “The Daily Show’s” Jordan Klepper, “In my mind, he [Trump] owes us a lot more because there was about a day and a half where we couldn’t even function as a city.
“He [Trump] should be getting these annoying voicemails that, like, we get usually from scam companies where it’s like ‘You owe debts,'” Keller said. “I think Mar-a-Lago is now getting those calls.”
Michael Glassner, the former COO of Trump’s campaign, said, “It is the U.S. Secret Service, not the campaign, which coordinates with local law enforcement,” according to The Hill. “The campaign itself does not contract with local governments for police involvement. All billing inquiries should always go to the Secret Service.”
Source: Newmax
