Stevens campaign wants radio ad silenced

WASILLA — A law firm representing the Ted Stevens for Senate Committee sent a cease broadcast notice to local radio station KMBQ Wednesday seeking to halt what the firm calls an advertisement making false statements.

The Anchorage law firm, Holmes Weddle & Barcott, alleges the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is running an advertisement that is “factually incorrect and a gross distortion of the real facts.”

In the ad, which is being aired, a conversation between a car salesman and a fake Ted Stevens plays out. The ad’s fake Stevens talks to the salesman about trading in an early model Ford Mustang for a newer Land Rover.

The back-and-forth is a reference to an allegation in a July federal indictment that Stevens worked with former VECO CEO Bill Allen to obtain a 1999 Land Rover Discovery, valued at about $44,000, in exchange for a 1964 Ford Mustang, worth less than $20,000.

The law firm takes exception to a line in the ad that states: “We know from his indictment Stevens wanted a new Land Rover worth $44,000, so an oil executive worked out a special deal and Stevens got the key to the Land Rover.”

The problem, the law firm says, is the phrase “we know from his indictment,” since an indictment is only a charge and not a statement of fact.

“It is improper for this advertisement to rely on as factual, statements in the indictment that are not proven,” the letter says.

Furthermore, the law firm says, the indictment does not mention Stevens ever talking to a car salesman, to which the ad alludes.

“It purports to state what the indictment says and then proceeds to distort the allegations in the indictment,” the law firm’s letter says.

The offices of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, located in Washington D.C., were closed by press time Thursday. A message on the organization’s Web site says it is committed to electing a Democratic Senate.

The DSCC paid for the advertisement and says it was not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

KMBQ owner John Klapperich said he has no plans of pulling the advertisement from the airwaves or editing it.

“I do not have the option to pull or deny or edit a political candidate’s radio commercial,” Klapperich said.

He added his station does not pick favorites during a political campaign, and to pull one candidate’s ad would give the appearance of an endorsement to the candidate’s opponent.

“I don’t know who would rightfully say ‘here’s your check back sir,’” Klapperich said.

The only way he would remove the ad is if the organization that paid for it requested its removal from the air.

Stevens was indicted in July for allegedly falsifying statements on his financial disclosure forms. Federal authorities contend he accepted gifts from oil-field services company VECO without reporting them.

His trial is scheduled to end before the Nov. 4 elections.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiers- man.com or 352-2252.