Rep. Denham sues DCCC for campaign ads about House votes

Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for running what he says are libelous advertisements that say Denham voted against military pay and in favor of pay for members of Congress.

Denham's campaign office confirmed a report by the Patterson Irrigator that said a suit was filed after the DCCC continued to run the ad that it asked to have taken down.

The ad running against Denham says he voted against H.R. 1363, the Defense Department appropriations bill, in April 2011. But Denham voted for that bill, according to House voting records.

The ad also says Denham voted to "protect his own paycheck" by voting for H.R. 1255. Denham did vote for that bill, but he says his purpose was preventing the government from being shut down.

Specifically, H.R. 1255 was aimed at "deeming" the House-passed FY 2011 spending bill has having the force of law in the event that the Senate failed to act. At the time, the bill was seen as a symbolic attempt to prod the Senate into passing its own budget, something it hasn't done in more than three and a half years.

Denham complained last week about the DCCC ad against him.

"The ad is false and defamatory, especially to a proud veteran like Jeff Denham who has served his country and worked so hard to help our service members, their families and other veterans," Denham campaign consultant Dave Gilliard said last week. "If the DCCC will not immediately pull it down, we will go to court and demand that the stations running the ad pull it down and that those responsible are held responsible."

Denham's office said the local NBC office pulled the ad for one day but then started running it again.

Gilliard told The Hill that Denham intends to continue pressing his complaint against the DCCC even after Denham "wins next week."

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