"WH Sources" to WaPo: Air Force One will not be used as a ‘prop’!

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If he did, experts say, Trump would enter into a legal and ethical gray zone, as the president is not allowed to use government resources for political campaigns. The president is allowed to travel on Air Force One to campaign events — actually, he's required to do so and doesn't have the option of flying commercial. (The party or the campaign is expected to reimburse the government for part of the cost of the trip.) The iconic plane often appears on the campaign trail, such as when Hillary Clinton hitched a ride to a rally last summer in Charlotte with President Barack Obama and the two were photographed waving from the plane's doorway, standing next to a presidential seal.

Richard Painter — a professor of law at the University of Minnesota who was the chief White House ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007 and is now vice chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington — agreed with the White House's plan. Painter explained that the president has to travel in Air Force One and the plane has to land, an event that his supporters are allowed to witness. But the president should put some distance between his political speech and the taxpayer-funded Air Force One.
"They can do all of the theatrics, but when he gives the speech, the plane should be to the side," Painter said.

Larry Noble, general counsel for the nonpartisan ethics watchdog the Campaign Legal Center and former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission, said the placement of the plane falls into a "gray area." The bigger question, Noble said, is why the president is hosting a campaign rally instead of just giving a presidential speech, which comes with far fewer regulations. Noble's guess: With a campaign event, Trump will have greater control over who can attend and other logistics.

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