Democrats Pull Second Attack Ad Targeting Tom MacArthur

For the second time during the campaign, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is pulling a TV advertisement attacking New Jersey Third Congressional District candidate Tom MacArthur.

The committee is pulling its latest advertisement that accuses the Republican of making money from his former company after he retired from it, the Burlington County Times reports.

The advertisement began running on Sunday and was pulled on Tuesday after MacArthur threatened legal action, according to the report. The ad featured a Phoenix firefighter talking about MacArthur’s former company denying compensation to injured colleagues.

MacArthur is running against Democrat Aimee Belgard for the seat being vacated by the retirement of Republican Jon Runyan. The district covers portions of Burlington and Ocean counties.

Belgard was not involved in making or running the ad.

On Monday, MacArthur issued the following statement concerning the ad:

“The latest attack ad by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is a reckless and despicable smear with absolutely no basis in truth, and they know it. Worse, Aimee Belgard knows it, too, and she should have the courage and decency to stand up, publicly disavow this ad and call on her cronies in Washington to take it down immediately. Failure to do so would be undeniable proof that Aimee Belgard is willing to trade her principles and her ethics for a seat in Congress.

“Aimee Belgard has spent this entire campaign hiding. She has hidden from debates and hidden from the issues, while hiding behind the DCCC’s malicious attacks against me and my family. It’s time for Aimee Belgard to stop hiding and take control of her own campaign. Today, I challenge Aimee Belgard to reject any and all future funding from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, either direct or indirect, if they don’t remove this blatantly false ad from the air immediately and admit they got it wrong. I await her response.”

“MacArthur’s attorneys sent a letter to Comcast Cablevision last night calling for the DCCC’s new ad, “Fire,” to be taken down immediately due to its false and defamatory attacks against MacArthur. Earlier in the campaign, after being harshly criticized by non-partisan FactCheck.org, the DCCC was forced to remove their first ad from the air due to its false and misleading content. MacArthur’s attorneys have given the DCCC, its leadership, and Comcast until this afternoon to remove the ad from the air or face legal action.

“Here are the FACTS:

“The entire basis for the advertisement entitled “Fire” is untrue. The allegations related to lawsuits filed by Phoenix firefighters have nothing to do with Tom MacArthur whatsoever. Mr. MacArthur ceased running day-to-day operations at York Risk Services Group, Inc. in 2009, and he left York Risk Services Group, Inc. completely on December 28, 2010, and retired. The firefighter’s claims were handled by a firm named Avizent, which was acquired by York Risk Services, Inc. in December of 2011, NEARLY A YEAR AFTER Tom MacArthur retired.

“None of the firefighters’ claims at issue were handled when Tom MacArthur owned York. Therefore, the allegation that Tom MacArthur or Tom MacArthur’s company benefited in any way from denying firefighters claims is patently false. Lastly, if the DCCC attempts to use the $5,000 payment listed on Tom MacArthur’s Financial Disclosure as proof of the ad’s accuracy, they unwittingly prove their own ad is false. The small payment was not a profit from any period after 12/28/10. It was payment of a residual tax refund to the prior owners from before 12/28/10.”

A previous advertisement in which the DCCC led viewers to believe MacArthur cheated disaster victims was pulled after Factcheck.org determined that the committee misled viewers

For more, visit burlingtoncountytimes.com.