EVEN IN TODAY’S POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT of hyperpartisanship and negative campaigning, what’s happening in the suburbs of Philadelphia seems unprecedented.
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happening → happen → Philadelphia
Last week, Politico reported that Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick’s campaign has been running ads attacking his Democratic opponent, Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, by claiming Harvie is under investigation by the FBI.
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Harvie → report → FBI
It turns out Fitzpatrick’s attack ads cite articles from Patch, a hyperlocal news platform that encourages members to self-publish on their local Patch page.
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that → turn → page
The posts are not written by journalists employed by the media outlet.
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posts → write → outlet
Nor were they fact-checked.
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they → check → ?
In fact, all of them were written by an individual with close personal and financial ties to Fitzpatrick.
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all → write → Fitzpatrick
The man behind the posts is former journalist and convicted turtle-smuggler Dave Sommers, 72, of Levittown, Pennsylvania.
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man → convict → Levittown
Sommers appears to be a family friend of Fitzpatrick’s.
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Sommers → appear → Fitzpatrick
Between 2010 and 2022, Sommers received thousands of dollars in payments and reimbursements from Brian Fitzpatrick’s campaigns as well as the campaigns of his late brother, Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick.
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Sommers → receive → brother
The payments stopped the same year Sommers was charged with stealing a campaign sign belonging to Brian Fitzpatrick’s primary opponent.
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Sommers → stop → opponent
That charge didn’t end the relationship between Fitzpatrick and Sommers, though.
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charge → end → Fitzpatrick
This past summer, Sommers attended Fitzpatrick’s wedding to Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, posting pictures with the bride to his Facebook and Instagram accounts.
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Sommers → attend → accounts
And in another video posted to Sommers’s Facebook page, he sports a tank top that reads “TEAM FITZ”—the name of Fitzpatrick’s joint fundraiser for his campaign and leadership PAC.
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that → post → PAC
Sommers is one of only 141 people whom Brian Fitzpatrick follows on his official Instagram page.
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Fitzpatrick → follow → page
Sommers also seems to have been close to Fitzpatrick’s older brother, Mike, who died in 2020.
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who → seem → 2020
In a 2023 post on Instagram, Sommers called Mike Fitzpatrick his “brother.”
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Sommers → call → Fitzpatrick
More broadly, Sommers’s Instagram features multiple photos of Fitzpatrick and other Bucks County Republican officials.
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Instagram → feature → Fitzpatrick
A deep search of Sommers’s social media accounts reveals a disturbing pattern of sexist, racist, and Islamophobic posts.
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search → reveal → posts
So who exactly is this guy who has been publishing lies that his friend Brian Fitzpatrick has been campaigning on?
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friend → publish → that
Let’s get into it.
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’s → let → it
The midterms are coming.
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midterms → come → ?
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you → get → reporting
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you → hear → tickets
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