Trump Campaign Demands Democratic PAC Take Down 'False' Ad That 'Appears to Violate' the Ku Klux Klan Act
Former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign sent a letter Tuesday to a Pennsylvania-based Democrat-aligned political action committee demanding it take down a digital ad calling on Trump supporters not to vote by mail-in ballot.
The 30-second spot begins with the words on screen superimposed over a picture of Trump saying, “MAGA Patriots Listen to Our President!”
The ad includes past clips of Trump questioning the integrity of mail-in voting, which was his concern in 2020 when several states, including Pennsylvania, changed election procedures to facilitate mass voting by mail during the pandemic.
The Trump campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to the super PAC Pennsylvania Values saying its ad is in violation of multiple federal laws, including the Ku Klux Klan Act.
“We are aware of your advertisement falsely claiming that President Trump has asked Pennsylvania voters not to vote by mail. This advertisement may constitute both a criminal and civil conspiracy to injure the rights of President Trump’s supporters to cast their ballots in Pennsylvania,” the letter from Trump campaign attorney David Warrington to Pennsylvania Values treasurer Maria L. Galdo begins.
“Cease and desist broadcasting, or otherwise distributing via the internet or elsewhere, this false advertisement immediately and preserve all relevant documents in anticipation of likely litigation.”
Full spot here. The message is… not subtle. But without a firm grasp of the subtext you’d have no idea this was coming from the left. pic.twitter.com/dnG400MG16
— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) June 23, 2024
Warrington then cited a federal statute making it a crime to “conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person . . . in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
“Voting is such a right,” he noted.
The attorney pointed to a Justice Department case brought against conservative social media influencer Douglass Mackey, who was convicted in 2023 of “conspiracy against rights” for social media posts he made during the 2016 presidential election in which he falsely instructed people that they could vote by text for Democrat Hillary Clinton.
One post image stated in the fine print at the bottom of the image “Paid for by Hillary For President 2016,” the DOJ said.
Warrington’s letter to the Pennsylvania Values PAC continued, “In addition to federal criminal law, your false advertisement also appears to violate the [Ku Klux Klan Act], a law enacted to prevent Democrats associated with the KKK from attempting to intimidate Republican voters.”
The act was passed during the Republican Ulysses S. Grant administration to address intimidation tactics the KKK was using in southern states after the Civil War to keep black people, who tended to support Republicans, from going to the polls.
“The [Ku Klux Klan Act] creates a civil cause of action against persons who conspire ‘to prevent by force, intimidation, or threat, any citizen who is lawfully entitled to vote, from giving his support or advocacy in a legal manner, toward or in favor of the election of any lawfully qualified person as an elector for President or Vice President, or as a Member of Congress of the United States,'” Warrington wrote.
“On its face, your false advertisement appears to violate the [Ku Klux Klan Act],” he asserted.
The attorney concluded, “In light of these apparent violations of the law, immediately cease and desist broadcasting your false voter intimidation advertisement and preserve any and all documents, communications, and other information that may be pertinent to your potential conspiracy against the rights of the citizens of Pennsylvania.”
Commentator Liam Donovan posted on his X account that the super PAC in question was a big backer of Democrat causes: “Pennsylvania Values is a super pac funded almost entirely by the building trades that was most active in 2018 the last time [Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. Bob] Casey was up, spending $1.1M against [Republican challenger Lou] Barletta. Spent another $285k in 2020 against Trump.”
Brian Hughes, senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said in a news release regarding the ad, “Biden and his allies will stop at nothing to interfere with this election because Crooked Joe is losing nationally and in battleground states like Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Values PAC is peddling lies to prevent voters exercising their right to vote.”
“President Trump has been clear that his supporters should use all legal methods to cast a ballot this election,” Hughes continued. “In just the last two weeks at events in front of thousands of Americans — including in Pennsylvania — President Trump has encouraged supporters to visit SwamptheVoteUSA.com, a website that promotes all legal voting methods.
“To say otherwise in advertising, as this false TV commercial does, represents an intentional effort to mislead Pennsylvania voters, suppress Trump supporters, and disrupt a fair election this Fall.”
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