Black campaign asks TV stations to stop airing PAC-sponsored attack ad

The front page of The Tenenssean the day the driver’s license bill passed the General Assembly in April 2001.

An attorney for Diane Black’s gubernatorial campaign is asking TV stations to stop airing a TV ad that declares “Dishonest Diane Black” is “good for illegal immigrants, bad for Tennessee.” So reports The Tennessean, which obtained a copy of a letter sent to Knoxville TV station WVLT.

The ad was paid for by a political action committee, known as Tennessee Jobs Now, which supports one of Black’s GOP competitors — Knoxville entrepreneur Randy Boyd. (Previous post  with video and text of the ad, HERE.)

“To permit recirculation of this advertisement would condone the disclosure of plainly false and misleading statements that lack any nexus with the factual citations contained within the advertisement,” wrote Rocklan W. King III, an attorney with Adams and Reese LLP. 

Chris Hartline, a spokesman for Black’s campaign, said similar letters were sent to other TV stations throughout the state. 

“As is common practice, we’ve requested that TV stations review the blatantly false ads being run by allies of Randy Boyd, particularly considering that they’ve already been forced to take their false ads off the air twice,” Hartline said. 

King noted that the original version of the ad cited the wrong bill in Congress to suggest Black didn’t support Trump’s proposed wall. Although the original ad cited a bill that had nothing to do with border security, the 30-second spot has since been changed. 

King also argued that the legislation Black voted for when she was in the legislature related to driver’s licenses did not actually allow illegal immigrants to obtain one. 

“This bill permitted a person without a social security number to receive a driver’s license if the person submitted an affidavit affirming that such person has never been issued a social security number,” King wrote. 

… (I)n a May 24 letter, an attorney for the PAC stood by the assertion regarding the ad’s accuracy. 

Gardner Pate, a Texas-based attorney, notes that the appropriations bill cited in the ad that Black voted against provided funding regarding border security. 

“The White House and the President both publicly stated that HR 1625 included some funding for President Trump’s border wall,” Pate wrote. 

in a May 24 letter, an attorney for the PAC stood by the assertion regarding the ad’s accuracy. 

Gardner Pate, a Texas-based attorney, notes that the appropriations bill cited in the ad that Black voted against provided funding regarding border security. 

…”On its face, the advertisement is correct and accurate,” he concludes. “We respectfully request your station continue to allow Tennessee Jobs Now to air its advertisement.”