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  "path": "/post/210303/trump-admin-sued-100-million-taxpayer-funds-freedom-250",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-12T15:15:54.000Z",
  "site": "https://newrepublic.com",
  "tags": [
    "Breaking News",
    "Politics",
    "Donald Trump",
    "doug burgum",
    "Department of the  Interior",
    "United States",
    "Corruption",
    "Freedom 250",
    "courts",
    "justice",
    "filed a lawsuit",
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    "press statement"
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  "textContent": "A watchdog group is suing the Trump administration for allegedly using the president’s massive Freedom 250 project as a vehicle to divert funds to his vanity projects without congressional approval.\n\nOn Tuesday, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a lawsuit against the Department of Interior in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,, following unanswered FOIA requests back in February for records regarding the public funds being used for Freedom 250—the organization overseeing everything from the Grand Prix around the National Mall to Trump’s independence arch. The DOI never responded to the requests, and now PEER’s lawsuit claims that our money is being used with “with no transparency, no accountability, and no guardrails.”\n\n“America’s 250th anniversary celebration is supposed to be an occasion for strengthening public trust in our democratic institutions, not eroding it,” PEER’s executive director, Tim Whitehouse, said in a press statement on Monday. “In contrast, Freedom 250 is a privately managed slush fund.... It epitomizes what is wrong with politics today.”\n\nPEER alleges that the Trump administration is using Freedom 250 to redirect $100 million in taxpayer funds from America 250 without congressional approval, mix private funding and public taxpayer money without oversight, sell “access to President Trump” for up to $2.5 million, solicit foreign donations, and more.  PEER also accuses the DOI of pressuring workers to use Freedom 250 branding in their official email signoffs, which could violate the Hatch Act.\n\nThe Trump administration has yet to comment on the lawsuit.",
  "title": "Trump Admin Sued for Diverting $100 Million in Taxpayer Funds"
}