NEW DARK MONEY AD AGAIN LIES TO VOTERS ABOUT KATIE PORTER

First ad by dark money billionaire funded super PAC Fairshake was already debunked by independent fact checkers

IRVINE—Fairshake, a dark money group funded by a handful of the richest people in America, has released another false advertisement lying about U.S. Senate candidate Katie Porter, in an attempt to buy California’s Senate seat. An independent fact checker with the Sacramento Bee rated Fairshake’s first attack ad against Katie false.

Katie’s record on consumer protection is unmatched in this Senate race, and dark money super PAC Fairshake has said that it is borrowing from the special interest playbook employed by Big Oil and Big Banks to manipulate our elections in favor of mega corporations and the ultra-wealthy.

Here are the facts.

Ad quotes sour grapes from a politician who attempted to unseat Katie 

Fairshake’s new false attack ad quotes a former Congressman, Harley Rouda, who lost his seat in Congress and attempted to run for the same seat as Katie following redistricting. Ever since, he has repeatedly leveled mean-spirited and untrue attacks against Katie for running in what he calls “his” district. Rouda’s op-ed attacking Katie, which the ad quotes, is only the latest round of disappointing sour grapes comments from Rouda.    

Ad misleads voters about Katie’s limited role with mortgage servicer

Working on the frontlines of the foreclosure crisis to hold Big Banks accountable and to keep Californians in their homes, Katie developed expertise in how financial institutions fail to communicate effectively with consumers. Because of this expertise, she was asked to serve in a temporary role to look at how a mortgage servicer could redo its communications to better serve consumers, which she left after a few months. She did not work for the servicer when it engaged in illegal activity; in fact, she led the fight against abusive fees and illegal foreclosures, and she received national media attention for exposing how Big Banks were cheating homeowners.

Katie is the only elected official in this race who’s never taken corporate PAC money and refuses donations from federal lobbyists

Since Day 1 of running for office, Katie has sworn off contributions from corporate PACs. She’s also one of 11 members of Congress—the only one in this race—who refuses donations from federal lobbyists. Congressman Adam Schiff, in contrast, has taken nearly $2 million in corporate PAC checks, including from Big Oil, Big Pharma, and the Big Banks—and has repeatedly voted in corporate America’s interests, not in the interests of Californians. Rep. Schiff continues to take donations from federal lobbyists while running for the U.S. Senate.