July 25, 2014

ATTENTION: STATION MANAGER

This letter is in regard to the negative advertisement the House Majority PAC and AFSCME are
running against Stewart Mills, a candidate for U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesotas 8th
Congressional District (the Advertisement). Without a doubt, the Advertisement contains false
information deliberately intended to mislead Minnesota voters and defame Stewart Mills
reputation. Because the Advertisement conveys messages that are plainly disproven by fact, we
respectfully demand that your station immediately stop airing the Advertisement and that no
further airings of this misleading content be allowed on your station.
The advertisement begins by portraying video of Stewart Mills saying: folks saying that the
wealthy, the wealthy are not paying their fair share, the 2%, the 1%, whatever percent you want,
is personally offensive. This is not a statement that Stewart Mills has ever made and it relies on
splicing and dicing three separate clips from one 20 minute speech. The full video can be
viewed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpMpNCpndqg , but heres the breakdown:
HMP/AFSCME Advertisement: folks saying that the wealthy, the wealthy are not
paying their fair share.

o Full Context (11:22): What happened in the last round of elections, where you
had folks saying that the wealthy, the wealthy are not paying their fair share,
that theres all these loopholes and they dont pay any taxes and we have to make
them pay more.

HMP/AFSCME Advertisement: the 2%, the 1%, whatever percent you want

o Full Context (14:48): How come we are not generating the jobs in Northeastern
Minnesota that we otherwise would? Well I can tell you why. Because the
overwhelming group of people that run businesses, that have the ability to employ
people are taxed at that personal rate. They are the villains, theyre the bad guys.
Theyre the ones that quote are not paying their fair share. Theyre the ones quote
that the 2%, the 1%, whatever percent you want.

HMP/AFSCME Advertisement: is personally offensive.

o Full Context (12:10): To be singled out as a deadbeat is personally offensive.
As you can see, the advertisement strings together 3 different fragments to make one slanderous
sentence which Stewart Mills never said and doesnt believe.
The advertisement then goes on to suggest that Stewart Mills opposes raising the minimum wage
but provides no documentation to support that assertion. In fact Stewart Millss family business,
Mills Fleet Farm, pays all its workers above minimum wage and he has been repeatedly on the
record raising all workers wages in actuality by growing the economy.
The advertisement next falsely claims that Stewart Mills, wants another tax break for the
wealthy. Again the advertisement provides nothing to backup this assertion. Stewart Mills
doesnt believe that and has never said that. His position is that we need broad based tax reform
to make a simpler, fairer tax code which creates jobs on Main Street Minnesota.
Finally, the advertisement ends with more slander by again clipping the personally offensive
line and claiming because paying his fair share is personally offensive. As shown above the
personally offensive clip is taken from a sentence which had nothing to do with paying his
fair share.
The false ad bankrolled by AFSCME/House Majority PAC against Stewart Mills does not
constitute a candidate use. Under Columbia Broadcasting Sys., Inc. v. Democratic Nat'l
Comm., 412 U.S. 94 (1973), and Natl Conservative Political Action Comm., 89 FCC 2d 626
(1982), your station is not obligated to air any advertisements from third parties, such as the
AFSMCE/House Majority PAC, as third parties have no guaranteed right of access to air their
advertisements on your station. Thus, broadcasting stations are not protected from legal liability
for airing a false and misleading advertisement sponsored by the AFSCME/House Majority
PAC. Moreover, broadcast licensees have a legal responsibility to review and to eliminate any
false, misleading, or deceptive materials contained in advertising. We urge you to stand up for
the truth and put a stop to these false attacks on your station.
Your station is hereby on notice that the Advertisement makes false statements intended to
deliberately deceive Minnesota voters and defame Stewart Millss reputation. Based on the
foregoing, we respectfully demand that your station immediately cease the airing of this false
and misleading Advertisement and further request that you reject any attempts by the sponsor of
this Advertisement to purchase time for the future airing of this Advertisement because of its
material misstatements of fact and defamatory nature.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience at 757-784-2366 to advise us of your stations
action(s) with respect to cessation of the airing of this advertisement.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I anticipate your response.
Sincerely,
Mike Lukach,
Campaign Manager, Friends of Stewart Mills