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US urged to investigate deceptive Facebook ads tied to rightwing group
Watchdog calls for inquiry after Guardian investigation reveals ‘Green party’ ads were placed by conservative marketing firm
Local
A campaign finance watchdog group has requested that the justice department open a criminal investigation into the figures behind a series of deceptive Facebook ads that promoted Green party candidates in the 2018 midterm elections.
A Guardian investigation recently revealed that the ads were placed by a major conservative marketing firm, contradicting an inquiry by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which accepted the statement of Evan Muhlstein that he was responsible for the ads and had failed to comply with FEC reporting requirements due to “inexperience”.
The ads were placed by a Facebook Page called America Progress Now (APN) in the days ahead of the 2018 election. APN was not registered with the FEC at the time, in violation of federal laws requiring disclosures by so-called independent expenditures.
The Campaign Legal Center, the non-partisan watchdog group requesting the investigation, filed a complaint with the FEC about the group in 2019, but the FEC declined to investigate after Muhlstein came forward to take responsibility for the ads.
“Muhlstein gave the FEC the impression that he alone had created the APN page, placed the ads, and financed the ads, and that the reason that APN did not comply with legal disclosure was that he was unsophisticated,” said Brendan Fischer, the director of federal reform at the Campaign Legal Center.
Internal Facebook documents reviewed by the Guardian revealed that APN was in fact controlled by three conservative political operatives, including Jake Hoffman, the chief executive of Rally Forge, a political marketing firm with close ties to the pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA. Rally Forge had significant experience running independent expenditures in federal races, and would have been aware of reporting requirements. Hoffman is currently a member of the Arizona state legislature.