Elections

Dems Forced To Pull Toomey Attack Ad Over False Information

REUTERS/Mark Makela

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Juliegrace Brufke Capitol Hill Reporter
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The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was forced to pull an ad attacking GOP Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey Monday for containing blatantly false information after a cease and desist letter was sent to television stations across the state Friday.

The ad alleged Toomey owned a bank that was guilty of predatory lending practices. The claim turned out to be inherently false, with Toomey just holding stock in the establishment.

The 30-second spot went on to accuse him of forcing 21 small-business owners out of their homes and using his time in public office to implement policies for his own personal gain.

In the letter sent by the Friends of Pat Toomey committee, the group slammed the DSCC for defaming the senator, stating stations that air the ad would be “violating public trust.”

“The DSCC is completely divorced from reality and lacks an understanding of the meaning if ‘ownership,'” it reads. “The concept that a stockholder owning less than one percent of a company’s stock ;owns’ that company is mathematically and logically deficient, and is a willful distortion of the facts that are public record.”

The group said the attacks misrepresented how foreclosures work under Pennsylvania law, adding they believed the “most scandalous charge” was the ad’s claim about evictions, noting three, not 21, of the homes discussed were actually sold.

The votes cited in the television spot alleging he was abusing his political power were not votes related to the banking industry, but his votes on the Ryan budget.

The Toomey camp slammed the DSCC for it’s decision to create the ad in the first place due to its complete lack of factual information.

“Katie McGinty started her campaign with a lie about being the first in her family to go to college, and she has consistently been lying about Pat Toomey ever since,”  Toomey for Senate spokesman Ted Kwong said in a press statement. “This ad claims Pat owned a bank that used predatory foreclosure tactics to force 21 people out of their homes. Every single one of these claims are blatant, indefensible lies. This extraordinary action shows just how far McGinty and her allies will go to distract from her own very real ethics problems, when their smear campaign against Pat Toomey cannot even be legally broadcast on television.”

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