Even as the entire nation has its eyes on Bucks County this Election Day, this hasn’t deterred local Republicans from slinging mud and spreading lies.
Bucks County Recorder of Deeds Daniel McPhillips is trying to unseat incumbent Democratic State Rep. Brian Munroe from his District 144 seat and will use any means necessary. Republican McPhillips ran an ad in October featuring Munroe edited into an orange prison uniform posing for his mugshot. The ad cited a Broad and Liberty article alluding to Munroe being dishonorably discharged from the military after receiving criminal charges.
“The media outed him with four secret arrests including weapons possession,” the ad said. “Is that why he was discharged from the Navy?”
Rep. Munroe, who is running for re-election, said the ad angered him at first and said he found it “deeply offensive.”
“You spend your life serving your community as a Navy veteran,” Munroe said. “You serve honorably, you serve in a combat zone, you serve as a firefighter, EMT, and you serve as a police officer, not being hired by one department, but three separate police departments and you had a man who’s never served a second in uniform of any kind, attacking your honorable service, and it’s deeply offensive.”
Munroe said he thinks the ad was a strategic mistake on McPhillips’ part. Munroe said he spoke to veterans who said they were offended by the ad.
“I do not think this was a net positive for him…and I think he’s going to see that on Election Day,” Munroe said.
After the article and the McPhillips ad, Munroe’s attorney Adam Bonin sent McPhillips and Broad and Liberty letters asking them to retract. McPhillips did not respond and Broad and Liberty declined to retract the article.
Munroe published his DD214 to end the allegations of a dishonorable discharge at a press conference on Oct. 19. On Oct. 21, Broad and Liberty published Bonin’s attorney letter and added an update to the original article, but said they stood by their reporting due to not receiving a comment from Munroe before deadline. Fliers with the same allegation funded by the PA GOP were mailed to residents in District 144.
Munroe’s DD214 notes an honorable discharge with the reason listed being disability. Bonin’s letter also refutes the Broad and Liberty article claiming Munroe was charged with three misdemeanors and a traffic infraction in Virginia Beach in 1996.
The article claims Munroe received a disobey-highway-sign fine, a reckless driving fine, public intoxication charge, and weapon concealment charge which was dismissed.
Bonin’s letter refuted two of the charges being related to Rep. Munroe and acknowledges the weapon concealment charge, a pocket knife provided to him by his volunteer firefighter service, was dismissed. Munroe takes accountability for the public intoxication charge when he was 22 years old.
“I admit to, you know, having had too many beers when I was 21 years old — I’m sorry, 21, 22 [years old] — after, I served seven months overseas on a Med Cruise aboard the USS Roosevelt,” said Munroe. “You know, I was not driving, I was walking with my friends, and I got a ticket.”
Broad and Liberty used Intelius, a website for finding people; arrest records; background checks; and reverse address search, to find the alleged records. Intelius provides a disclaimer on the site claiming “all information on our site may not be 100% accurate, complete, or up to date.” Intelius encourages users to do their own due diligence when they have concerns about a person’s criminal history.
Munroe said he has his own team of lawyers who “get their eyes on everything” before it goes public. He also said he thinks these attacks turn voters off from their duty.
“I think attacks like this, it smears our democratic process across the board,” said Munroe. “I think it is negative energy. I think it is depressing and it’s a shame.”
Munroe said he wasn’t surprised by the attacks because he said Jeff Yass, a Pennsylvania billionaire donating to the McPhillips campaign, has attacked him previously.
“I have a strong feeling, you know, that [McPhillips] really needs to feel the pinch with respect to this, because I don’t think it should be allowed to, you know, attack an honorable service of a military veteran when it’s a complete lie,” Munroe said.
Munroe called the attacks “a sign of desperation” from the McPhillips campaign and said they continued to double down.
“Rather than, you know, turning around and apologizing — which they should have done — they just they, they stuck to their guns,” Munroe said.
