Reality Check

Reality Check: Ad Against Musgrave 'Big On Spin'

DENVER (CBS4) ― The new political ad attacking Republican Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave is big on spin and loose with the facts. This commercial comes from the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

Ad: She was named one of the most corrupt members of Congress.

The claim is misleading on a number of levels. First, the images used in the ad visually imply that the Fort Morgan Times has made this allegation. That implication is

False. The claim originally came from a group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). That group compiled a list of legislators it claims may have violated congressional ethics rules.

For more information on CREW's Musgrave allegations, visit the group's Web site.

Here's the spin. The group makes allegations and calls for investigations. It all gets printed as a news story. None of it goes anywhere. No official investigative body finds anything worth pursuing. Several years later, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund recycles the flimsy claim for a TV attack spot. It's not the whole story. The Greeley Tribune chased down one of the accusations in 2005, having to do with the leasing of campaign office space. The paper found CREW's allegation against Musgrave to be false.

More information Greeley Tribune reporting.

Ad: Marilyn Musgrave has taken over $165,000 in campaign cash from big oil.

This claim is true. That is, if you lump together large and small oil and natural gas interests. According to opensecrets.org which tracks campaign donations, Musgrave received over $165,000 in campaign contributions from oil and gas related interests. That represents a small fraction of the $9 million she's raised in her congressional career.

More information on Rep. Musgrave's campaign donations.

AD: Maybe that's why she voted against raising fuel mileage standards that could save Colorado families almost $1,900 a year.

Here's the spin. Musgrave did vote against measures in 2005 and 2007 that would have mandated more fuel efficient cars. Her campaign said she opposed the measures because they included new taxes. What the ad doesn't point out is that Musgrave also co-sponsored a compromise bill with a number of Democrats, including Coloradans John Salazar and Ed Perlmutter, that would increase fuel efficiency standards, albeit on a slower timeline and with more loopholes than some competing measures.

Bottom line, while Musgrave's critics can find plenty of legitimate policy differences to attack in her voting record, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund chooses instead to build its ad around a shameless accusation of corruption unsupported by the facts.

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