Himes Calls on Debicella to Demand AAN Pull Misleading Ads Run on His Behalf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Contact: Liz Kerr, 203-275-9715

Himes Calls on Debicella to Demand AAN Pull Misleading Ads Run on His Behalf

Shadowy 3rd Party Group Gets the Facts Wrong, Highlights Need for Campaign Finance Reform

BRIDGEPORT, CT—Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) today called on his opponent Dan Debicella to force the shadowy right-wing American Action Network to remove the blatantly false ads they are running against Himes. AAN is taking advantage of a loophole in our broken campaign finance laws that allows corporate special interests to steal elections and undermine American democracy. The Connecticut Mirror and Pulitzer Prize winning Politifact have already published articles debunking the ads, and the New York Times has editorialized against these tactics.

“These groups face no consequence for their lies and distortions and are operating in the shadows of our broken campaign finance laws,” said Himes. “Their claims are outlandish, and if Dan cares as much about our democracy as I do, he’ll call for these ads to be removed immediately.”

Click here for a complete fact check of the ad.

This group advocates the same dangerous, reckless economic policies Dan Debicella supports, including allowing Wall Street banks to regulate themselves and cutting government revenue to the point that will result in either permanent deficits or devastating cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

American Action Network is headed by Fred Malek, a former Nixon Administration official with a record of anti-Semitic and fraudulent behavior. While an employee in the Nixon White House, Malek led the effort to remove Jewish employees from their positions at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He also paid $250,000 in fines to the Security and Exchange Commission for violating Connecticut pension laws.

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