Ethics Group Accuses Trial Lawyer of Airing 'Fake' TV Ads Aimed at Conservatives

Ethics Group Accuses Trial Lawyer of Airing 'Fake' TV Ads Aimed at Conservatives

Liberal Front Group is Behind Attacks on Senators for Asbestos Vote

WASHINGTON, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Ken Boehm, Chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), today criticized television ads currently running in four states that are sponsored by a group calling itself the "Senate Accountability Project."

The ads attack four Republican U.S. Senators for their recent votes in favor of legislation to establish an asbestos trust fund. They are: Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Sam Brownback of Kansas, and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.

The ads, which can be viewed at http://www.senateproject.com/, use conservative themes and imagery. In each, the ad states that the targeted Senator says he believes in "states rights and limited federal government," but that the asbestos trust fund is a "liberal entitlement program." The ads go on to assert that establishment of the trust fund "takes power away from ordinary citizens and gives it to bureaucrats in Washington."

Boehm said, "These ads are fake. The Senate Accountability Project is not a conservative group. It is a liberal 527 group, organized and funded by trial lawyers."

Boehm continued, "The man behind the curtain at the Senate Accountability Project is named Mark Iola. He is a Dallas trial lawyer who has made a lot of money from asbestos litigation. Public records show that Iola has donated over a hundred thousand dollars to Democratic political candidates and causes over the past several years."

Boehm noted that on the same website where the ads accusing the four Republicans of betraying conservatives can be viewed, there is another ad titled, Standing Up for Harry Reid. Boehm said, "Iola must think conservatives are stupid."

The ads were prompted by a vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee late last month in favor of legislation establishing a trust fund not to exceed $140 billion to compensate victims of asbestos exposure. This trust fund would be privately funded by companies involved in the litigation. No tax dollars would be used. The funds would be earmarked for the real victims of asbestos exposure, not just those whose lawyers filed claims. Boehm noted that the legislation has been developed with significant input from conservative Senators.

Boehm said, "The trial lawyers are doing everything they can to block this important legislation. Iola is worried that his litigation gravy train will derail or slow down. Instead of debating this issue on its merits, he has instead resorted to misleading ads."

"Fat cat trial lawyers hide behind front groups. They hide behind distorted facts. Worst of all, they hide behind victims, who are secondary to their pursuit of the almighty dollar," Boehm said. "But their most distinguishing trait is that they hide."

Of the legislation itself Boehm stated, "If passed by Congress, this legislation would end the circus of runaway asbestos litigation that has amply rewarded a handful of lawyers while leaving thousands of desperately sick people with a fraction of the compensation they deserve. This abuse of the legal system has already driven at least 70 corporations into bankruptcy and jeopardized thousands of American jobs as the volume of class-action suits filed increases each year, targeting companies that never made asbestos or even used it in a meaningful way.

Boehm concluded, "It is nothing short of a national scandal that unscrupulous lawyers have clogged the courts with over 730,000 asbestos claims, 90 percent of them on behalf of claimants who have no asbestos-related health problems. Meanwhile, justice is delayed and denied for truly ill people, some of whom have died waiting for their day in court. The Judiciary Committee's action has brought us closer to ending this sorry chapter in American jurisprudence and just might put America on the road to tort reform."

NLPC promotes ethics in public life, and sponsors the Government Integrity Project.

Source: National Legal and Policy Center

CONTACT: Ken Boehm of the National Legal and Policy Center,
+1-703-237-1970

Web site: http://www.senateproject.com/

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