A local television station pulled a political ad by a Washington-based conservative group that alleged U.S. Rep. Chris Murply backed a healthcare bill that would have jailed those without insurance. FOX CT, the local Fox affiliate and broadcasting partner of The Hartford Courant, decided late Monday to stop running the ad because it could not verify the claims it made. The commercial produced by the American Action Network is one of two targeting Murphy, a Democrat from the 5th congressional district. " Following a review of the spot titled 'Mess' and the documentation provided by the American Action Network, WTIC-TV...believes the commercial's claims are unsubstantiated and has removed it from air,'' FOX CT spokeswoman Andrea Savastra said in an email. Specifically, the ad asserted that Murphy supported a health care measure that would provide free healthcare to "illegal immigrants" and would have jailed those who do not have medical coverage. "It is the station's responsibility to review commercials...to protect the public from false or misleading statements, Savatra said. WTIC-TV continues to air another American Action Network spot that suggests Murphy favors providing sex offenders with access to Viagra. In an email, James Landry, spokesman for the American Action Network, dismissed the entire episode as "Democratic hyperventilation." "Out of respect to a station's wishes, we changed 4 words to an ad,'' Landry said. "The ad was not pulled and is running this evening." The ad was changed to omit the reference to prison terms for those who do not have insurance, but the reference to immigrants remained. "We have received a spot that repaired only one of the two issues we originally had with the commercial,'' Savastra said. "Therefore, our position remains unchanged." WTNH-Channel 8 is also no longer airing the ad. "To be accurate, WTNH did not make the decision to pull the ad,'' Courtney Guertin, the station's corporate communications manager said. "American Action Network made the decision. We can, however, confirm that the advertisement is not airing on WTNH." Federal Communications Commission regulates require that political ads by third-party groups such as the American Action network be accurate and stations can be held liable if they are not -- unlike ads produced by candidates, which TV stations are required to run, as long as they are properly tagged. Murphy said he was pleased the ad had been pulled. "The ad is absolutely false,'' Murphy said during a campaign stop in Avon. "FOX CT and hopefully other stations as well realize its a violation of their FCC license to put something on the air that is false.'' American Action Network has dumped $1 million into its ant-Murphy ad campaign, which is part of a larger effort across the nation to target Democrats. The group has deep connections to the Republican party: Fred Malek, a former Nixon aide and fundraiser for John McCain's presidential big; former Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman and former Florida Senator Mel Martinez are among the group's directors. A Colorado television station also stopped airing one of the group's ads after fact-checking it and deeming it false.
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FOX CT pulls American Action Network; group's spokesman dismisses questions about the ad's veracity as "Democratic hyperventilation"
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