NHDP Mailer Against State Senate Candidate Being Investigated

CONCORD, NH — A state Democratic Party mailer attacking a Republican state Senate candidate running for the District 18 seat is being investigated by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office and may lead to a potential lawsuit against the party for libel. State Rep. George Lambert, R-Litchfield, confirmed that he submitted the mailer after being requested to by the attorney general’s office. The mailer contains text and pullout quotes from a blog post first published in July on Concord NH Patch by an author, sex podcaster, and liberty activist who lived with Lambert and his family in Litchfield until late February. She has requested Patch not use her name.

In the blog post, the accuser made a number of sexual and intimidation allegations against Lambert and recommended that voters not support him for state Senate. She later acknowledged to Patch that she could not prove or substantiate any of the allegations. After analyzing the blog post, Patch’s editorial director, community engagement specialist, and the local editor determined that it contained potentially libelous information and it was taken down about 17 hours after being published.

Lambert, his wife, and daughter, later went on Manchester community access television to explain their side of relationship after the post and allegations went viral in political circles around the Granite State.

The family revealed letters and emails the accuser had written to them thanking them for their support with housing and help purchasing a car, while questioning her motives for writing the post. The Lamberts stated that after meeting her, they knew she was in trouble, had money problems, and offered to let her stay at their home until she could finish her degree and get her own apartment. After getting her own apartment, she moved out. Later, they said, they discovered online posts discussing her issues with mental health, money, and other online reports accusing her of stalking people.

At the same time she posted the column on Patch, the accuser became ensnared in a sexting scandal with Manchester radio talk show host Rich Girard, a conservative broadcaster on a low power Christian FM station, after the two exchanged flirtatious instant messages on Facebook. Girard later apologized to his wife and listeners.

The mailer sent out by Democrats this week was edited in such a way to make it seem as if the accuser stated that she and Lambert engaged in sex when, in fact, the sentence, when eyed in full, says they did not have sex, potentially opening up the party to a libel suit based on misrepresentation and/or a distortion by malice, painting Lambert in a false light.

Lambert, after meeting with investigators at the AG’s Office, lashed out at the NHDP.

“I refute the attack and welcome an official investigation,” he said in a statement. “I find the slanderous behavior of Ray Buckley and the NHDP reprehensible. Distribution of partial truths based on unsubstantiated claims that were taken off the Patch website is beyond unethical. The entire party should be embarrassed by these types of attacks.”

Lambert added that he had met with the Litchfield Police chief today and “confirmed that no complaint is filed in (their) system. I have offered my complete support and when it is all over I will be exonerated.”

Neither Buckley nor a NHDP spokesperson returned an email requesting comment about the investigation or their role in circulating potentially libelous material to voters in Litchfield and Manchester.

The accuser, in an email, stated that she knew nothing of the mailer and had not given permission to the NHDP to republish or use her writing in any way. She stated that she stood by the allegations but added that she wanted to move on from them. Despite the explicit nature of her allegations, she said she would not filing be charges, since it was her word against his.

Steve Lebonte of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, the point person on election issues and complaints, stated that he hadn’t seen the Lambert complaint yet but confirmed there were a number of people looking at election complaints involving advertising, mailings, signs, and other issues. He added that the complaints tend to flow in just before an election. Lebonte noted that in 2012’s highly contested presidential race, there were more complaints than this year, so far, adding that there was still one weekend left before the election.

This isn’t the first time the NHDP has been called out for inaccurate mailers and character assassination.

Earlier this month, Donald Trump attacked the party for using his likeness without permission to attack another Republican state Senate candidate, Kathy Rago, for reportedly missing votes as a state representative. Trump told the New Hampshire Union Leader that he wasn’t surprised by the Democratic stunt.

In 2012, the NHDP also attacked Ron Noyes, a liberty Republican, teacher, and popular musician, who was running for a District 27 floterial state representative seat in Concord, in a citywide mailer claiming he was anti-gay, anti-pro-choice, and other outright falsehoods. Noyes had been considering legal action against the party for libeling and spreading falsehoods about him in the mailer.

Image via NHDP mailer.