Marsha Blackburn

Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn's legal team has sent a cease and desist letter against a recent political advertisement.

FOX 17 News reached out to Senator Blackburn regarding the letter. Her team sent us a copy.

The cease and desist letter was sent to the American Exceptionalism Institute on behalf of Sen. Blackburn. It alleges that the organization, "is currently sponsoring and disseminating an advertisement that targets Senator Marsha Blackburn with knowingly false and defamatory accusations of bribery and criminal corruption."

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The advertisement shows what seems to be pharmaceutical company executives and plays a jingle stating "Our pain killing pills wouldn’t sell, so we paid Senator Marsha Blackburn to pass our bill." The legal group behind the letter says this accuses Sen. Blackburn of accepting bribes to pass legislation. The letter states, "The advertisement’s assertions are completely false. Senator Blackburn has never accepted a bribe to pass legislation, nor has she ever been accused or investigated for allegedly doing so. The advertisement includes no substantiation for any of its claims about Senator Blackburn. Specifically, there is no substantiation or supporting documentation for its claims that Senator Blackburn accepted a bribe, that any pharmaceutical company paid her to pass legislation, that anyone paid her “millions” for legislative favors, or that she ever solicited any such bribe or payment. There is no substantiation for these claims because they are completely false."

The letter also alleges that the advertisement uses AI-generated imagery and content, which would "compound the defamatory nature of the advertisement and may give rise to additional claims, including under state laws prohibiting deceptive political advertising and the unauthorized use of a person’s likeness."

The letter demands that the organization pull the ad across communication of any medium or television station, and disclose whether any AI-generated or altered or otherwise digitally manipulated content was used in the advertisement. "Your organization should not require further prompting to stop disseminating an advertisement that falsely accuses a sitting United States Senator of selling official acts for cash. Failure to comply with these demands will be treated as further evidence of your organization’s actual malice and will inform the scope of damages Senator Blackburn pursues in any subsequent litigation."