The Mystery Firms Behind the Liberal Facebook Ads Dubbing a Hawaii Rep a ‘CWILF’

One calls Tulsi Gabbard ‘the hottest member of Congress on either side of the aisle.’ And it’s part of a series of pages from four companies traced to one Democratic law firm.

by Lachlan Markay, Daily Beast, September 20, 2018 (excerpts)

A handful of newly incorporated limited liability companies is using a huge network of Facebook pages to mount a series of social-media attacks on Republican Party policies, donors, and political candidates, with some of the ads hitting some conspicuously sexist notes.

A pair of posts promoted this week on a Facebook page titled The Keg Bros contained two videos, one attacking Republican megadonor Rebekah Mercer and one hailing Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. “Hawaii’s Tulsi Gabbard makes us want to go Democrat,” reads text in one of the videos, interspersed with footage of Mike Myers’ Austin Powers mouthing “hot hot hot.” It adds, “America’s voted, and she’s the hottest member of Congress on either side of the aisle.”

The ad ends by declaring Gabbard a “certified C.W.I.L.F.,” presumably short for “congresswoman I’d like to fuck.” ….

Given the content of the videos and the name of the Facebook page posting them, they might appear to be your standard internet bro fare, a la Barstool Sports or the Lad Bible. But the promoted videos are actually part of a sprawling network of Facebook pages running ads paid for by a handful of companies traced to a Democratic law firm in Colorado.

The Keg Bros video ads were paid for by a company called Right Call Media LLC. The same videos popped up in promoted posts by a similarly named page, The KEG. Those ads were paid for by a company called Smashbutton Media LLC. Right Call and Smashbutton were both incorporated in June by Tierney Lawrence, a self-described “progressive law firm” in Denver that does business with a number of Democratic Party candidates, party organs, and interest groups at the state and federal levels.

An examination of incorporation records and Facebook ad data shows that (the lawfirm) Tierney Lawrence is behind a handful of such companies that have bought Facebook ads through at least 42 different pages, all created since July, targeted to various demographics, in efforts undercut Republican political and policy efforts.…..

Some of the Facebook pages, such as Left Out Loud and Left AF, are explicitly liberal in their outlook. But others, with vaguely patriotic names such as Self-Reliant Republic, My America, and Our Flag Our Country, seem tailored to Facebook users that might be less amenable to ads from a group more upfront about its political leanings. Comments on non-promoted Self-Reliant Republic posts, for instance, are filled with perturbed conservatives. “Why does this bullshit page keep popping up on my timeline, and how the fuck do I block them?!” one asked recently.

Still others appear to be covert attempts to sow discontent among conservative readers. Smashbutton bought a series of ads through the page Drain The Swamp News in July, after Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, that sought to stoke conservative suspicions of the judge. “Brett Kavanaugh investigated the death of Vince Foster and cleared the Clintons. What does he know?” some of the ads declared. Others called him “the Clintons’ personal investigator.” One dubbed him “FRIEND OF BUSH. NOT TRUMP.”….

read … Entire Article