Liberal Group Says Republicans Took Thousands
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WASHINGTON – A liberal activist group is launching ads accusing four Republican lawmakers of accepting thousands of dollars from defense contractors while opposing tough penalties for companies that overcharge the government.
Aides to two of the lawmakers dismissed the ads as misleading.
Moveon.org is spending $300,000 for the commercials aimed at Reps. Nancy Johnson of Connecticut, Chris Chocola of Indiana, Deborah Pryce of Ohio, and Thelma Drake of Virginia. The 30-second spots will begin running today and remain on the air for about 10 days.
The ads say the lawmakers accepted thousands of dollars in donations from defense contractors and then “opposed penalties for contractors like Halliburton who overcharged the military in Iraq.”
The latest buy is part of Moveon’s $1.3 million ad campaign in the midterm elections.
“We focused on districts which we believe could be very competitive but hadn’t yet reached that point,” the executive director of Moveon, Eli Pariser, said.
The chief of staff for Mr. Chocola, Brooks Kochvar, said the ad “is clearly misleading, much like their previous ones” and argued that the Republican has done all he can to help American forces.
Ms. Drake’s campaign manager, Tim Murtaugh, described his boss as “an ardent supporter of the military” and said the voted cited in the ad was a procedural one.
