Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has sent a cease-and-desist letter to a progressive super PAC, alleging it ran a misleading digital ad showing clips of the former president urging voters not to vote early by mail.
The 30-second advertisement, paid for by super PAC PA Values, shows old video clips of the former president telling voters not to vote by mail. It opens with the text on screen: “MAGA PATRIOTS LISTEN TO OUR PRESIDENT!”
While former President Trump advised voters against mail-in voting in 2020, he has since changed his stance and now promotes mail-in voting as a way to override ensure an unbeatable number of Republican votes.
“The Republicans must win, and we must use every appropriate tool available to beat the Democrats. Whether you vote early, absentee, by mail, or in person, we must swamp the radical Democrats with massive turnout,” President Trump said in a recent campaign ad. “If you want to save America, register, get an absentee or mail-in ballot, vote early. The way you win is to swamp them. If we swamp them, they can’t cheat.”
The former president has vowed to return to paper ballots and enact certain election integrity rules if he gets back to the White House. Until then, he says, voters must use the rules currently in place to win.
Pennsylvania Republicans, and those at the Republican National Committee level have embraced mail-in voting in 2024 as a way to get ahead of Democrats.
The PAC PA Values ad closes with the text: “Stand strong with PRESIDENT TRUMP!” It also includes a disclaimer that the ad is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.
The letter noted that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has successfully criminally prosecuted people under this law, known as conspiracy against rights.
“On its face, your false advertisement appears materially similar to the communications that resulted in a seven-month prison sentence for [Douglass] Mackey,” Trump campaign attorney David Warrington wrote.
More Than 800,000 Times in Four Days
The PA Values ad was shown 800,000 to 900,000 times in the four days it was online, June 20 to 23, the Google Ads Transparency Center shows. Google has since removed the ad, citing policy violations.The cease-and-desist letter was addressed to Maria L. Galdo, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who is listed as treasurer of PA Values.
The Epoch Times sent emails requesting comment to the three addresses listed in the PAC’s April 2022 statement of organization paper.
PA Values ran numerous past advertisements against Republican Lou Barletta in 2018 when he challenged Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.)
PA Values this month paid Des Moines, Iowa-based GPS Impact $48,000 for the production and dissemination of the advertisement, Federal Election Commission records show.
The Epoch Times asked GPS Impact for a comment, but it did not respond by publication time. GPS Impact advertises as helping “Democrats, progressive organizations and initiatives, and elected officials win in red states, including Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Ohio.”
The business has been hired by Iowa Democratic Party Results and the Kansas Democratic Party, among others, and much of its work focuses on getting Democrats to vote by mail.
“As states across the country turned to vote-by-mail in response to the global pandemic, GPS Impact worked quickly to help our clients adapt their campaigns to changing voter behavior and new voting rules,” the company’s website reads. “GPS Impact helped state Democrat parties in both Iowa and Kansas use digital channels to encourage voters to request vote-by-mail ballots.
GPS Impact has produced many advertisements targeted at Democrats, directing them to vote by mail, including several in Pennsylvania in 2020.
