US urged to investigate deceptive Facebook ads tied to rightwing group – By Julia Carrie Wong (The Guardian) / July 7 2021
Watchdog calls for inquiry after Guardian investigation reveals ‘Green party’ ads were placed by conservative marketing firm
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 of 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.
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