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Gov. Carney's campaign files cease and desist over false advertising

Delaware Public Media

Gov. John Carney’s campaign sent a cease and desist letter to TV stations airing an ad created by the Citizens for Transparency and Accountability.

 

Carney’s campaign says this ad is a last minute attempt to embarrass the governor days before the election and doesn’t create a dialogue on the incarceration of African American prisoners.

 

Carney says his campaign wants to make sure falsehoods aren’t being aired just weeks before the election.

 

“My campaign office did send letters to those so that Delewareans did not have a misunderstanding of some of the issues discussed there,” said Carney.

 

The major claim in the letter from Carney’s counsel centers around Barry Croft, one of the men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan’s Gov. -  and Carney’s pardon of him. The ad says Carney let Croft quote “go free” when Croft had been out of prison for decades. Croft was pardoned for crimes he committed over 20 years ago.

 

Carney’s Republican challenger Julianne Murray initially accused Carney of attempting to restrict free speech, but later told Delaware Public Media she understands the Carney campaign’s complaint.

 

“I mean I can see where they’re coming from, but there can also be an argument that “go free” is his criminal charges were purged from his record,” said Murray.

 

The PAC running the ad is connected to another PAC formed 5 years ago, Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware.

 

Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware has attacked Delaware's courts because it’s upset with a 2015 Chancery court decision involving the sale of TransPerfect, a language translation company. The group is funded by TransPerfect employees.

 

According to reporting from the News Journal, a spokesperson for the group running the ad says they’ll be tweaking the ad to correct the inaccuracies layed out in Carney’s letter, then increase spending on the ad.

 

This story has been updated to include a response from CTI about the changes being made to the advertisment.

Roman Battaglia grew up in Portland, Ore, and now reports for Delaware Public Media as a Report For America corps member. He focuses on politics, elections and legislation activity at the local, county and state levels.
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