Concerns Raised by Murkowski Intimidation

Murkowski Wrongly Tries to Force Miller Ads from Airwaves on Election Eve

Anchorage, Alaska. November 2, 2010 — The Joe Miller campaign was contacted yesterday by local media outlets that had in turn been contacted by Murkowski campaign officials. The Murkowski campaign demanded that Miller’s campaign ads be “taken down” and not aired in the key 24 hours before voting. In order to defend Mr. Miller’s right to commercial airtime, the Miller campaign general counsel had to step in. In a letter to Clear Channel Communications, one of the media companies contacted by Murkowski, Thomas Van Flein stated that “I am following up on the Bradley/Reid demand, made on behalf of Lisa Murkowski, that you pull all Joe Miller advertising, allegedly because there is no sponsorship statement. As you know, the Miller campaign ads are in fact compliant and contain the sponsorship statement required under Federal Law (BCRA), namely; a statement from the candidate that he approves the message.” Mr. Van Flein further noted that “any action ‘pulling’ Miller ads would violate the reasonable access requirements” and that as “a legally qualified federal candidate, censorship of advertising is expressly prohibited.” A copy of the letter is attached.

Miller spokesman Randy DeSoto stated that “Joe Miller will not be intimidated by Murkowski’s efforts to stop his ability to communicate to the people of Alaska through the airwaves. It’s part of a relentless effort by numerous media parties and the Murkowski campaign to silence and distort our message. People throughout the state are responding to his message and that will be reflected at the polls today.”

In light of this latest effort (following Murkowski’s similar and successful effort to get Dan Fagan off the air), Joe Miller said, “These Murkowski accusations are false. They are being made to intimidate local broadcasters to pull my advertising on the eve of the election. To our knowledge, no ads have been pulled, but the effort to do so is unfair, unwise and un-American.”

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