FIRST ON FOX: A mysterious new group purporting to be part of an “anti-globalist,” pro-American movement is targeting Republicans in battleground House races across the country in what some are calling a coordinated scheme to suppress GOP votes.
The American Forge Coalition has sent out a flurry of mailers to voters this month accusing vulnerable Republicans of not being conservative enough. Some believe it’s a coordinated effort by the left to depress GOP voter turnout in the midterm election just a week away.
“This is a shady Democrat dark money scheme using a front group that isn’t even registered with the [Federal Election Commission], mailing Republicans at the start of early voting to suppress them from turning out,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., campaign spokesman Ciro Riccardi told Fox News Digital.
In fact, an investigation by Fox News Digital found that the group’s targets include Lawler’s race in New York’s 17th Congressional District, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, and Laurie Buckhout, who is running to unseat Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
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In Lawler, Kiggans, and Fitzpatrick’s cases, the group sent mailers accusing them of supporting “mass amnesty” and “letting criminals escape justice after illegally entering our nation.”
Mailers sent in Van Orden and Buckhout’s races accused them of being too lenient on abortion. Mailers sent in North Carolina claimed Buckhout supports “abortions up until birth,” while Wisconsin voters got flyers that said Van Orden “would allow the murder of the unborn into the second trimester.”
Both attack lines take liberties with the truth.
Lawler, Fitzpatrick and Kiggans all support the Dignity Act, which establishes a pathway to temporary legal status for undocumented migrants provided they pay certain fees and pass a background check, while also increasing pay for Border Patrol. But none support amnesty for illegal immigrants with criminal histories.
In the case of Van Orden and Buckhout, both have positioned themselves as pro-life and have been attacked by Democrats as “anti-abortion.”
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“They are obviously a left-wing dark money group. This is unfortunately not a new tactic by them. And they are really hurting our country,” Fitzpatrick’s campaign told Fox News Digital. “They are telling Republicans that we are too independent, and then telling Democrats that we’re not independent enough.”
It is not clear where the American Forge Coalition’s money or support is coming from, and it almost appears deliberately structured to obscure that information.
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