Congressional Candidate Bob Harvie Sends Cease-&-Desist Letter To PAC Over Attack Ads

The campaign of Democratic congressional candidate Bob Harvie has issued a cease-and-desist letter demanding that a political action committee supporting Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick halt the distribution of campaign materials and advertisements alleging Harvie is an “FBI corruption subject.”

The letter was sent Thursday morning by the law firm Dilworth Paxson to the Georgia-based Defending America PAC, which was created to defend Fitzpatrick from challengers.

The three-page legal letter accuses the committee of publishing “recklessly published false and defamatory statements” across a “Fire Bob Harvie” website, social media posts, and a video.

The Harvie campaign and Defending America PAC both shared a copy of the letter with this news organization.

Harvie, a current Bucks County commissioner and former Falls Township supervisor, “is not and has never been under investigation and has not been accused or charged with a crime,” his campaign said.

The issue centers on a years-long investigation involving county, state, and federal law enforcement officials.

LevittownNow.com exclusively reported at the time that Harvie and other local officials were called to testify in the probe, which looked at issues within Falls Township government, the Pennsbury School District, a local union, and other matters in the Philadelphia region.

Harvie has previously stated he cooperated with the investigation.

Sources close to the investigation told this news organization in 2023 that there was no evidence they had seen that Harvie was the target of the probe.

No charges or indictments were ever issued, and authorities have declined to comment or release records on the investigation or Harvie, citing U.S. Department of Justice policies and grand jury secrecy.

The investigation appeared to have quieted after the grand jury met in Philadelphia in 2022.

The Harvie campaign stated there is “no basis” for the PAC labeling the candidate an “FBI corruption subject” and asserted that the statements “rise to the level of actual malice, even for an ongoing political campaign.”

Harvie said Tuesday that the attacks were untrue.

“Fitzpatrick and his Republican bosses are blatantly lying to voters because they’re terrified I’m going to beat them,” Harvie said. “I guess they were betting I wouldn’t punch back. But I’m from Bristol, not DC. I’m not backing down and I’m not going away.”

Defending America PAC, which operates independently of Fitzpatrick’s official campaign, stood by its messaging.

“We are publicly demanding that Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie immediately release his complete, unredacted FBI grand jury transcript, FD-302 interview reports, grand jury subpoenas, and any and all DOJ correspondence related to this corruption investigation,” Defending America PAC President Chris Pack said in a statement. “If Mr. Harvie instead chooses to file a meritless lawsuit to chill protected political speech, we will vigorously defend ourselves and seek every remedy available under Pennsylvania law, including Pennsylvania’s anti-SLAPP protections signed into law by Governor Josh Shapiro.”

The Harvie campaign did not respond to Pack’s challenge.

In 2023, a Republican state party mailer referenced the investigation and “corrupt labor union activity.” It prompted GOP candidates to smooth over relations with local union leaders.

At the time, Harvie said that Republican Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo admitted to Commissioner Diane Marseglia that the attacks were known to be false. DiGirolamo did not comment on the matter at the time.