PHOTO: On Thursday, the Moore campaign announced that Alabama television stations are pulling what he called yesterday, "patently false" ads. Last night, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill announced an "unprecedented" move by Google to also pull the online media by the group. (Tyler Pruett, Southern Torch | Highway 31 PAC, Facebook)
By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Announced earlier today in a press conference, some television and digital advertising by the Highway 31 PAC is being removed by Alabama stations and Google.
This week, the Roy Moore campaign and Alabama Secretary of State cried fowl on two separate ads ran by the Political Action Committee. It's believed that much of the money funding Highway 31 comes from out of state, due to the group utilizing a loophole in federal election laws allowing it to hide donors.
The ad, which the Secretary of State's office called, "a targeted effort to misinform and confuse voters," seemed to indicate that whether or not citizens vote for Roy Moore would be made public.
(Click the link to view the ad: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zyv8suabbox6bfa/Video%20Dec%2004%2C%2011%2025%2017.mov?dl=0)
"This ad was reported to be on YouTube among other digital platforms," the Secretary of State's office said in statement. "Once the ad was reported Secretary Merrill instructed his team to work quickly to ensure Alabamians were not confused or dissuaded from participating in our democratic process due to misinformation or fear of retribution for how they chose to cast their ballot."
"Secretary Merrill's team contacted the Media and Advertising team at Google (YouTube's parent company) and through several intense discussions and many references to Alabama State Law the team at Google felt the ad should be 'disapproved' and that it was in violation of the AdWords advertising policies.
Yesterday, the Roy Moore Campaign filed a "cease and desist" letter to stop another ad by the Highway 31 PAC. The ad made several unsubstantiated claims, including the unproven accusation that Moore was banned from the Gadsden Mall. The ad also refers to sexual advances toward a teen at the Mall, when the accuser at the mall never claimed Moore's advances to be sexual.
Full statement from the Roy Moore Campaign on Ad Removal: After being outed for false advertising by Secretary of State John Merrill, the Montgomery Advertiser, and the Roy Moore for US Senate Campaign, Alabama television stations are pulling from rotation misleading ads paid for by the Highway 31 political action committee. As ofThursday morning, two stations have pulled the ad, and others are expected to follow suit.
This morning at a press conference in Montgomery, Moore Campaign spokesperson Ben DuPre called out Highway 31 for maliciously maligning Judge Moore and hiding their millions of dollars from public view and said that they have now pivoted to "voter intimidation."
Yesterday, the Moore Campaign announced that cease and desist letters had been sent to Alabama TV stations which were airing the ad.
On Wednesday night, Secretary of State John Merrill announced that Google, in an unprecedented move, has pulled the false ads and Alabama newspapers statewide are being forced to headline the fact that the ads are misleading.
The Moore Campaign will relentlessly fight for the truth and see to it that the people's senate seat is not stolen by outside elites with no concern for truth or integrity.
