President-elect Donald Trump is suing to halt the Biden administration’s sale of border wall parts, arguing that the act is “possibly criminal.”
Mr. Trump’s amicus brief, which was filed Thursday, supports motions from Missouri and Texas in a southern Texas district court to determine whether the federal government breached the court’s injunction that prevented the Biden administration from using border wall funding for anything other than the barrier’s construction.
In his lawsuit, Mr. Trump demanded that the court “immediately stop” any ongoing sale of border wall materials until the court could review whether the the Biden administration was running afoul of the law.
Fervor around the auctioning was rekindled by The Daily Wire, which this month reported that the Biden administration was engaging in a “fire sale” of border wall materials.
Lawmakers took notice, with Sen. Bill Hagerty, Tennessee Republican, introducing legislation this week that would halt the use of federal funds “to deconstruct, dismantle or otherwise render inoperable any segment of the physical barrier along the international border between the United States and Mexico.”
The bill would also prevent the use of funds “to auction, sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of any materials or supplies” bought by the government to build a wall along the southern border.
Last year, Congress required that the White House dispose of unused border wall pieces as part of legislation baked into the National Defense Authorization Act. That measure allows for the sale or donation of the materials to southern border states to be used to refurbish existing barriers.
But Mr. Trump accused Mr. Biden in his lawsuit of “deliberately selling off border wall materials at a major financial loss to the government to obstruct the pro-wall policy of Congress and President Trump.
“Such conduct likely constitutes a criminal act, such as a conspiracy to defraud the United States. At the very least, the reported conduct raises troubling concerns of potentially criminal behavior.”
The Hill reported that the Defense Department said further sales can’t be blocked because all the excess border wall parts have already been distributed.
Customs and Border Protection, Texas and California each requested and received materials months ago, while the remaining gear was sold to GovPlanet, which buys and auctions off government surplus.
