Indiana Sues Swift Boater's New Attack Group

[democraticinsurgent]

From TPM Muckraker:

Indiana Sues Swift Boater's New Attack Group
By Paul Kiel - September 18, 2006, 11:54 AM

The state of Indiana sued the right-wing Economic Freedom Fund today, to stop it from harrassing residents with automated "robo calls" supporting a GOP congressional candidate. The suit, by Indiana Attorney General Mike Carter (R) seeks a preliminary injunction stopping the calls immediately.

The Economic Freedom Fund was responsible for an unknown number of calls last week in Indiana's ninth district, attacking the Dem challenger, Baron Hill. His opponent, Rep. Mike Sodrel (R-IN), who trails Hill by nine points according to the latest polls, has denied knowing anything about the calls. (For details and a recording of the call, see our story last week.)

As we reported last Thursday, Bob Perry, the money man behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has put $5 million into a new organization to attack House Democrats. In addition to TV and print ads run in four different districts across the country, the group is behind a slew of robo calls that are in the form of push polls -- phony polls that serve to attack an opponent rather than collect data.


Update: TPM Reader DK writes: "The penalty would be assessed based on the number of violations, not just the number of complaints. So the AG could through discovery, etc. acquire the call records, billing records etc and see just how many calls were made. Never would anyone get nailed for every last call in court or in a settlement, but it means that the AG's negotiating position would start out much higher than $35,000."


http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001547.php

[Chiyo-chichi]

1. From Sunday's (Bloomington/Bedford)Hoosier Times:

http://www.tmnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=737&Itemid=43

Louis Kopp, 71, a retiree who lives in Sellersburg, said he and his wife are Democrats but split their votes in the fall. "We tend to vote for the person we feel will do the best job," he said.

Unlike many Hoosiers, Kopp knew automated election calls were illegal. At the Indiana State Fair last month, he stopped at the attorney general's booth to ask if political groups could legally call people on the do-not-call list. "The lady says, 'If it's a live voice, yes they can, but if it's a recording, it's a no-no,'" he said.

When he got the anti-Hill call Tuesday, he started answering questions but then realized the poll was a pre-recorded political attack.

"I thought, the heck with this," he said. "I hung up and I went online and filed my complaint with the attorney general's office."

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Good for Louis!