In a rare move, KUSA – Ch. 9 decided to pull the false and misleading ad against Ed Perlmutter which asserted that because he voted for the new health insurance reform law, he supported the ability for convicted rapists to access Viagra. Adam Schrager from KUSA did the fact check on this ad, declaring it completely FALSE and stated “Perlmutter never voted for it.” Furthermore, the new health insurance reform law does not contain any provisions in it concerning this assertion.CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE FACT CHECK
This is the second attack ad run against Perlmutter that Schrager and Ch. 9 declared false. The ads, were funded by the shadowy, Republican-operative run American Action Network, which sunk more than $1 million into the false advertising.
“KUSA did the right thing,” said Perlmutter spokeswoman Leslie Oliver. “These kinds of false and distorted ads are examples of what happens when these outside shadow groups aren’t required to disclose their donors. This is an abuse of our political system and a disservice to voters who should be able to make a decision about the future of our country based on the truth – not lies.”
Oliver continued, “Despite these truth tests, Ryan Frazier continues to outsource his campaign just like his business outsources jobs. He refuses to denounce AAN and call for them to pull these blatant lies from the rest of the TV stations in Colorado. Clearly, Frazier is not only willing to be untruthful about what his own company does, but he is ok with having others lie on his behalf has well.”
According to the Denver Post, one of Frazier’s donors, Rich Beeson, who is a Republican political operative in Colorado, is connected to the consultants for the AAN, and was involved in the decision to run this ad attacking Perlmutter.
KMGH and the Denver Post have both declared the ad false as well.
The AAN is run by Fred Malek, who served under President George H.W. Bush and as the National Finance Chairman for John McCain's 2008 Presidential Campaign. On its board are also Wall Street executives and two former Republican senators: Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota) and George Allen (R-Virginia).
