Has Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick turned the tables on himself?
From billboards dotting rural roadways in Upper Bucks County to televised ads calling for the alleged “release of the FBI files” and pop up ads in email accounts,Fitzpatrick has been on the attack slinging mud against his Democratic opponent Bob Harvie for months.
But Politico released a “bombshell” report Wednesday morning that five-term incumbent Fitzpatrick, who represents Pennsylvania’s first congressional district, has used a longtime friend David Sommers, of Levittown, to write negative fabricated content for his re-election campaign.
Sommers was convicted of trafficking protected turtles in 2019 and was sentenced to six months of house detention and ordered to pay $250,000 in fines.
An effort to reach Fitzpatrick for comment was unsuccessful.
Several ads, which were published on Patch, carried Sommers byline, Politico reported. Fitzpatrick’s ad “blitz” attempted to paint Harvie as an ethically compromised political operator – using Sommer’s “headlines as key fodder.”
READ: Levittown Man Close To Congressman Charged With Stealing GOP Opponent’s Sign
Federal Election Commission records show Fitzpatrick made payments to Sommers dating as far back as 2010 – though Brian Fitzpatrick did not begin his first term in congress until 2017.
Dan McCormick, Harvie’s campaign manager, said cease and desist orders over the defaming ads had been sent in July.
On Aug. 5, Harvie’s campaign filed a defamation lawsuit in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
One of Fitzpatrick’s campaign funders, Defending America PAC, has an Oct. 6 deadline to respond aiming to discredit Harvie, who currently serves as a Bucks County Commissioner.
“We asked for an apology and damages and if they chose to meet the request, we would settle, and it would be public,” McCormick said in a phone interview.
“This is one of the biggest political scandals of the campaign cycle: Brian Fitzpatrick has been caught in a massive web of lies,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Eli Cousin.
According to Cousin, Fitzpatrick paid “thousands of dollars [to Sommers, a longtime friend and guest at his wedding] … who writes fake blog posts that Fitzpatrick puts millions of dollars behind to fuel completely fabricated attack ads.”
On the recent revelations, Harvie called Fitzpatrick “a complete and total fraud, and now he’s getting exposed. He’s desperate.”
“Brian Fitzpatrick has been caught. His attack ads use completely fabricated citations that are written by his personal friend who is a convicted felon and racist. Fitzpatrick has directly paid him, hired him, and invited him to his wedding. This is the smoking gun that proves that Fitzpatrick is a total fraud and just another corrupt career politician willing to do and say anything to cling onto power. Washington has changed Fitzpatrick, and now it’s time for Bucks and Montgomery County voters to change who we send to Washington,” McCormick said.
