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By Jon Cassidy | Ohio Watchdog
Josh Mandel
COLUMBUS — The AFL-CIO is funding a new ad on the websites of the Cincinnati Enquirer, The Columbus Dispatch, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer making a claim against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel that’s already been debunked.
The $50,000, weeklong ad buy is based on a bizarre post to the leftist news blog ThinkProgress.
The ad argues that Mandel would get rich if he helped to bankrupt the U.S. government.
The union’s argument is premised on Mandel’s wife holding shares of an investment instrument called ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury, which gains value when Treasury bond discounts increase. Investors short Treasury bonds as a hedge against increasing interest rates.
Ohio Watchdog debunked the claim made in the national labor union’s ad more than a week ago.
Workers’ Voice, a super PAC supported by the AFL-CIO, funded the ad. The PAC’s communications director, Eddie Vale, did not respond to a request for comment.
Workers’ Voice took out another ad last month falsely claiming that the FBI was investigating Mandel.
Mandel is trying to unseat U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in the November election.
(Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Mandel’s wife’s trust no longer held shares of the ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury fund, due to a reporter’s oversight. The JMS Trust held a stake between $1,001 and $15,000 in the fund at the time of the family’s most recent disclosure records.)
Contact Jon Cassidy at jon@ohiowatchdog.org.
