HLDENTONS Si aes ose! wenadies Selene, 2016 Sent Via Certified MaivReturn Receipt Requested: ‘Sent Via FirstClass U.S. Mail Sent Vie E mall Tor Compsicn/@applesotsforconsren.som Colonel Doug Applegate 977A Lomas Santa Fe Drive Solana Beach, CA 92075 Colonel Doug Applegate for Congress ‘Ati: Robert Dempsey, Campa gn Manager 977A Lamas Santa Fe Drive Solana Beach, CA. 92075 Dear Col, Applepate and Mr. Dempsey: Dentons has been retsined to seck all appropriate and available reli fora false and misleading advertisement that Colonel Doug Applepate for Congress the Campaign’) has sponsored, and Colonel Applegate himself has persondlly approved, tacking Congressman Darel Issa, a Candidate for US. House of Representatives for Celifomias 49th Congressional District ("he Advertisement"). To the extent you have counsel, please forward this correspondence to them, as addtional action is imminent As dotild more filly below, the Advertisement contains fase information deliberately and knowingly intended to misleat California voter and defame Congressman Isis reputation, "As a knowing publication of false information, is actionable even under the standards for publi figures. ‘While certainly diferent, there are boundaries even for pubic figures, and the knowing publication of false information i oe of them. The Advertisement crosses even that boundary. ‘Accordingly, DEMAND is hereby made that you, individually and collectively, (3) immediatly cease and desist further publication of the Advertisement; (i) instruct any media including without limitation broadcast andior cable television stations, currently publishing. the Advertisement 10 immediately and permanently $09; (i) remove the Advertisement from the Campaign website and any afiliatd (directly or indirety) websites; and (i) issue a public apology to Congressman ss for having, sponsored, approved, and wed the Advertisement despite the falsehoods it contains, {Asis obvious from its contents, the Advertisement takes serious liberties with the contents of an atte atibuted to The New York Times, In particular, sbout nine seconds ino the spot, the ‘Advertiement depicts a copy of The New York Times dated August 14, 2011, with the quote "Rep. Issa ‘gamed the system to line his ewn pockets. Steering millions in taxpayer money to help proporties heane os orskahe oieaeas aa Su a ‘omen Viewers are clearly le to belive tha the statement with quotation marks is @ quote from an antici in The New York Times. Ye, a5 a simple review of the articles reflects, the words in quotation ‘marks do not appear anywhere n the referenced article (or any other news article, or that matter). ‘As a result, the Adverisement inappropriately misleads California voters by falsely atibuting quotes to an article in which sch quotes do nol exist. By approving and sponsoring the Advertisement Colonel Applegate and the Campaign have sanctioned a lie — namely, the use of invented quotes improper atebuted to The New York Times. Colonel Applegate’ and the Campaigns actions in this regard are not only deceptive and ‘wrongfully damaging 0 Congressman Iss reputation, but also threaten to compromise the integrity of te election to represent the eitzens of California's 45th Congressional Distt. This wll remain the case aslongas the Advertisement ccntnues tai Even leaving aside the false tribution issue, and accounting for hetoric and paraphrase, the Advenisement doubles down on the aforementioned lie by filing to account for extensive corrections The New York Times was forced to ese in the aftermath ofthe orignal August 14,2011 report. Indeod, the newspaper's editor was fered to issue very public corections on four separate oocasions since the article was First published, which completely and wholly debunk the central message contained therein, The corrections issued by The New York Times regarding ‘August 14,2011 article, were as follows: + The anicle falsely stad, eg. that Congressman Issa "split a holding company into separate ‘multibilion dollar businesses" On August 16,2011, The New York Times printed a coretion noting that the use ofthe tem "multibillion was in err. + The anicle falsely stated, eg, that Congressman Iss family foundation eamed a retum of nearly 1,900 percent in connection with one 2008 sock sale. ‘The then Managing Editor (and current Executive Eto) of The New York Times, Dean Baquet, admitted in writing that this information was not correct. + The artile falsely stata, e., that the value of « model complex owned and subsequently sold bby Congressman Iss company rose 60 percent after Congressman Issa secured federal funding to widen a road alongside the plaza. On August 26, 2011, The New York Times printed a correction noting tat atthe time ofthe sale, “the value of the propesty remained essentially Snctinged [from if peshase price] and di tot se percent afer Me Tose sve fern Funding to wien are alongside the plaza." There are numerous acitional falsehoods contained in the August 14, 201| article referenced in the Advertisement. But ata minimum, i is undisputed that The New York Times itself was ford {0 issue several comections admit ng that the article contained false information, as identiied above Had Colonel Applegate or the Campaign conducted even a rudimentary internet search, the falsity ‘ofthe article referred t nthe Advertisement would have become instil clese. In any even, by vinewat wa he ale sa merc onncernnenig Page |3 oe ‘of your receipt ofthis eter, bth Colonel Applegate and the Campaign now have actual notice of the Insceuracies contained in the aricle aswell a he trae Fats, Under these ciroumstances, any further publication ofthe Advertisement ~ in the fave of uetual knowledge a to the falsity ofthe statements reference inthe article that forms the basis for the same — ‘would oonatite "octal salle" as that term ie uoed in the landmark onto ef New York Times Co, + Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1960) and subjosts Colonel Applegate and the Campaign to lability for defamation, In sum, a6 outlined above, the Advertisement plainly conveys messages that are false and ‘defamatory, aswel as inaceurely portrays Congressman Isa asa deceitful person who i corrupt ini roleasa member ofthe US. House of Representatives. The false and defamatory statements contained in the Advertisement adversely affect both Congressman Issas reputation and his professional ie as a ‘Congressman, and he has been damaged by their publication and wil continue to be damaged by their publication ithe Advertisement contines to run, For these reasons, formal notice and demand has been made that Colonel Applegate and the Campaign () immediately cease and desist further publication of the Advertisement; (i) instruct any ‘media, including without limitation broadcast andor cable television stations, currently publishing the ‘Advertisement to immediately and permanently stop; (i) remove the Advertisement from the Campaign ‘website and any affliated (directly or indiretly) wobsites; and (iv) issve a public apology t0 Congressman Issa for having sponsored, approved, and used the Advertisement despite the falsehoods it Inthe event that Colonel Applegate andthe Campaign refuse todo so, Congressman Isa intends ‘0 vigorously pursue all legal rehs and remedies available to hit, In this regard, please sce attached copy of @ draft defamation complain relating to the actions of Colonel Applegate and the Campaigh as respects the Advertisement andthe resting harm to Congressman Isa. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. | will anticipate your immediate response. Sincerely, phoard;, An 4. Ean Atom, Darel Isa for Congress IRE/mpk Enclosure ce: Congressman Darrell sa