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League TV Ad: Appointment of Congressman's Brother 'Suspicious Timing'

The TV ad, titled "Watching" praises Matheson for voting "No." It also highlights President Obama's nomination of Matheson's brother Scott to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on the same day President Obama lobbied Matheson in a private White House chat.

"The story goes, Congressmen Matheson meets President Obama at the White House, and 'sha-zam,' Obama nominates Matheson's brother to a federal judgeship," said Bob Adams, executive for the League of American Voters. "The White House even issued a press release to tout, as if to tell the rest of Congress what you get if you're on Team Obama."

The Weekly Standard magazine first called into question the suspicious timing of the nomination.

"Tonight, Barack Obama will host ten House Democrats who voted against the health care bill in November at the White House; he's obviously trying to persuade them to switch their votes to yes. One of the ten is Jim Matheson of Utah. The White House just sent out a press release announcing that today President Obama nominated Matheson's brother Scott M. Matheson, Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit... The timing of this nomination looks suspicious" (Weekly Standard, 3/3/10).

"The only way for Utah voters to know that Jim Matheson hasn't been bought by the Obama Administration is to stick with his previous vote and put the people of Utah ahead of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi," said Adams.

The script for the TV-ad reads:

"When Jim Matheson voted against Obama's healthcare takeover, folks here said thanks. Matheson voted against cutting $500 billion from Medicare. But Obama wants to change his vote, even if it means hiring Matheson's brother as a federal judge. Some people might call that a bribe, Congressman. The only way we'll know it's not is if you stick to your vote and oppose the Obama healthcare takeover plan. Call Jim Matheson today and tell him, you're watching!"

The League of American Voters (USALeague.com) is a Washington-based membership organization with nearly 60,000 members nationwide, and is organized as a 501(c)4 grassroots lobbying organization.

SOURCE League of American Voters