LANSING — The Michigan Democratic Party will be pursuing action against the Michigan Republican Party and Colleen O’Brien for a fraudulent robocall that has gone out to Michigan Democrats and violates federal law by failing to disclose the organization behind the call and an opt-out number.
“It seems like Colleen O’Brien has been taking lessons from corrupt Speaker Jase Bolger in election fraud,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer. “For a Supreme Court candidate to be involved with public communication that is as flagrantly deceptive as this robocall is a new low for Markman, Zahra, O’Brien and the Michigan Republican Party as a whole.”
The Michigan Democratic Party plans to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission regarding the O’Brien robocall. The FCC recently released new rules regarding political robocalls that prohibit messages like this one, which does not provide information on the organization responsible for the call or a telephone number. From the FCC’s rules:
- the name of the person or entity responsible for the call,
- the telephone number of the person or entity responsible for the call, which must be provided during or after the message.
In addition, O’Brien violated Judicial Canon 7(B)(1)(d), which holds that a judicial candidate “should not knowingly, or with reckless disregard, use or participate in the use of any form of public communication that is false.”
A recording of the robocall can be downloaded here: http://ow.ly/f1Zqt
