A Republican congressional candidate in New Jersey was successful in forcing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to yank a television that falsely linked him to a lawsuit filed by Arizona firefighters.
Tom MacArthur, who is running to replace Rep. Jon Runyan, R-N.J., was targeted in the DCCC television ad being run on behalf of the Democratic candidate in the race, Aimee Belgard.
Firefighters accused MacArthur’s old company, York Risk Services Group, of breaking federal conspiracy and racketeering laws to deny legitimate claims. The firefighters sued, alleging the company hand-picked doctors to justify rejecting injury claims.
The problem is that the incidents that form the basis of the claim happened in December 2011, a year after MacArthur sold the company and ceased any involvement, according to USA Today.
“This entire basis for the advertisement … is untrue,” MacArthur’s attorney wrote in a letter to Comcast Corp. demanding the ad be pulled. “The allegations related to lawsuits filed by Phoenix firefighters have nothing to with Tom MacArthur whatsoever.”
MacArthur, York’s former owner, ceased to be involved in the company’s day-to-day operations in 2009 and left it completely in December 2010, according to the letter from attorney William Burns.
After the letter went to Comcast lawyers, the DCCC agreed to pull the ad, according to the MacArthur campaign. It was also removed from social media.
Belgard campaign officials said they had nothing to do with the ad, which was produced by the DCCC. Federal law prohibits coordination of candidates’ campaigns with outside groups.
