February 13, 2024
VIA EMAIL & CERTIFIED MAIL
Anthony Savage
Elect A. Savage
419 Prospect St.
Wellington, Ohio 44090
anthony@savageforohio.com
Dear Mr. Savage:
I am writing you today on behalf of my client, Deeter for Ohio, in regards to an email that you and “Savage for Ohio” recently sent on February 9, 2024. In that email, you made false and defamatory statements about Ms. Deeter. Accordingly, you are hereby notified to cease and desist any and all further unlawful defamation, slander, and/or libel regarding Ms. Deeter.
In the missive you sent, you falsely make several statements that are simply not true. In fact, they are straight-up lies. Although there are many more, the following are just a couple of those lies:
“She filed a special disclosure form with the Secretary of State’s office to HIDE [a contribution] from voters.”
“She has been using pay-to-play schemes to garner local support and BUY her way into the Ohio Statehouse.”
Each of your false statements above defraud the voters and defame Kellie Deeter.
To begin with, Ms. Deeter has never filed a “special disclosure form” with the Secretary of State’s office. Any and all filings she has submitted were on forms published by the Ohio Secretary of State and required by law. More importantly, your lie that Ms. Deeter has hidden a contribution is patently false because her campaign finance report includes all contributions received and is readily ascertainable online. Accusing a candidate of violating state law, with no basis in
fact for making that statement, when the public record shows the exact opposite, is highly defamatory to that candidate.
That is not the only misleading and deceptive statement you made. In your email, you state (on three separate instances) that Kellie Deeter engaged in “pay-to-play” activities. The term “pay-to-play” is a term of art that typically refers to a violation of the Honest Services fraud section in federal law, 18 U.S. Code § 1346, and/or the Bribery section in state law, R.C. § 2921.02. Like your statement above, accusing a candidate of engaging in “pay-to-play”, without citing any substantiating facts, is clearly reckless and cannot be tolerated.
You may think that since the Ohio Elections Commission no longer has jurisdiction over false campaign statements that you are freely able to deceive voters however you may please. That is not the case. You remain legally accountable for making false and defamatory statements about Kellie Deeter where, as here, you either knew that they were lies or made them with reckless disregard of their truth or falsity.
Therefore, Deeter for Ohio demands that you and your campaign immediately cease and desist telling lies about Kellie Deeter to the voters, and issue a public retraction of your statements. We demand that this retraction be made no later than 4 p.m. on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.
Please note that this letter is not intended as a full or complete statement of all relevant facts or applicable law, and nothing herein is intended as, nor should it be deemed to constitute, a waiver or relinquishment of any of Ms. Deeter’s rights, remedies, claims or causes of action, all of which are hereby expressly reserved.
Ms. Deeter and Deeter for Ohio retain all rights to pursue legal action against you. Should that occur, my client will bring all available causes of action and seek all available legal and equitable remedies, including monetary damages, to the maximum extent permitted by law.
Regards,
Frank M. Strigari