U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (AP file)
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman’s campaign has sent cease-and-desist letters to four Denver TV stations airing an ad that makes wild claims about the potential financial backers of outside groups supporting Coffman. The ad by CounterPAC, , was in response to Coffman declining to take CounterPAC’s pledge to discourage spending by outside groups that don’t disclose their donors.
The letters call the ad “patently false,” a claim CounterPAC disputes because the ad uses artful language. Coffman’s lawyer urges the stations to stop running the spot or risk violating a Colorado law that prohibits knowingly or recklessly broadcasting campaign ads with false claims. (.)
CounterPAC’s ad, which debuted Monday on channels 4, 7, 9 and 31, . It’s not hard to see why.
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The narrator suggests that big tobacco, Russian oil billionaires, Wall Street bankers or “the owner of China’s largest casino” could be donating to outside groups that are trying to elect Coffman, then says: “We just don’t know, and thatap just how Mike Coffman wants it.”
In reference to the Russian billionaires and Chinese casino owner, the letter from Coffman’s attorney says: “Mike Coffman has not received support from these sources and, as CounterPAC is well aware, their claim of ‘support’ is not even possible because it is prohibited by federal law,” which doesn’t allow donations by foreign nationals in political matters.
Attorney Jonathan M. Anderson of Holland & Hart also wrote, “CounterPAC’s advertisement is not only illegal but it also takes unethical political advertising to a new level in Colorado. California based CounterPAC attempts to broadcast outrageously false statements by posing them as a rhetorical question. Perhaps California based CounterPAC thought that such a dirty campaign tactic would work in Colorado, but such a stunt does not provide safe harbor for outrageously false political statements.”
Anderson draws the analogy of a TV spot that suggests Russian President Vladimir Putin or Nathan Dunlap, who went on a 1993 murder rampage at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese restaurant, provided money to pay for “one of Nancy Pelosi’s many commercials supporting Andrew Romanoff through the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.” Romanoff is Coffman’s Democratic opponent.
CounterPAC today sent a letter to stations responding to the Coffman letter’s assertions. It says the concerns expressed in the ad are well-founded when outside groups run ads in support of candidates with little transparency.
CounterPAC’s attorney, Matthew T. Sanderson of Caplin & Drysdale, based in Washington, D.C., points to the as a reason the ad is relevant.
“Your station should not do Mr. Coffman’s bidding,” CounterPAC’s letter says, “but should instead allow the public to hear about the potential dangers of secret money in elections.”
In a statement, CounterPAC co-Founder Jim Greer said: “Rep. Coffman and Colorado voters would be better served if his energy was more focused on accountability rather than protecting secret donors.”
You can read more about the Coffman campaign’s response to the CounterPAC ad .
I reached out to executives at each of the TV stations about Coffman’s cease-and-desist letters. So far, I’ve only connected with Mark Cornetta, president and general manager of KUSA (9News), who would say only that “I’m aware of it, and we don’t discuss business matters with the media.” In , 9News noted that it rarely pulls ads “because the primary responsibility for the accuracy of claims in any advertisement lies with the advertiser.”
