dpU.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna sent a cease and desist letter to Democratic opponent Leela Gray over her campaign rhetoric. The demand came two days after Gray in a television ad claimed Luna was “giving insider information to her donor.”
“Your Advertisement is false. It is also demonstrably not supported by the source it cites, which is a source your Advertisement materially alters in order to manufacture the accusation it makes,” reads a letter from Luna attorneys Charles R. Spies and Dahlyn L. Sugrue.
“We write further regarding related false statements you have made on social media and in broadcast interviews asserting that Rep. Luna has enriched herself while in office, and trades stock. These statements are also verifiably false and are refuted by her publicly available financial disclosures. We demand that you immediately cease and desist from any further publication, broadcast, distribution, or promotion of the Advertisement, claims that she has gotten ‘rich’ while in office, claims that she sells stock, or any similar false claims.”
Gray’s campaign said the letter was dodging legitimate criticism of Luna’s record.
“This is just the latest example of Anna Paulina Luna lying to the voters of FL-13 and trying to hide from her record of corruption in Washington,” Gray said in a statement. “She’s dodged our debate challenge, she’s dodged voters, and now she’s dodging accountability the only way she knows how – by threatening those who call her out. Leaders stay focused on the mission. I faced real threats in 30 years of service and Anna Paulina Luna isn’t one of them.”
Luna’s latest financial disclosures show she owns no stocks. But Gray’s campaign noted the disclosure do list assets worth up to $500,000 in investment in America First Natural Resources, a company founded by a donor.
Gray’s ad cites an article in the Tampa Bay Times that reported Luna “may have helped influencer make the bet.” That cited reporting by The Wall Street Journal that Luna may have told social media influencer Rogan O’Handley, known online as DC Draino, that she expected then-presidential candidate Donald Trump to choose JD Vance as his running mate, and O’Handley may have made money with that knowledge on prediction markets.
The Justice Department after that report made clear it never opened an investigation of Luna.
“To be clear, Rep. Luna did not share material nonpublic information with Mr. O’Handley or with any other person, and did not facilitate any wager on Polymarket or any other prediction market,” Luna’s cease and desist letter to Gray states. “She has denied the allegation on the record from the outset. Mr. O’Handley, the only other named participant in the supposed exchange, has likewise denied it on the record.”
But Luna’s attorneys wrote that Gray has continued to assert that the incumbent “got rich” in office.
“Those statements are false, and they are directly refuted by public records that you are obligated to consult before making easily verifiable claims,” the letter reads.
The letter asserts that Gray’s allegations may meet the threshold for “defamation” because they are false and accuse her of an “infamous crime.”
“Your Advertisement accuses a sitting member of Congress of engaging in insider trading — a federal felony carrying prison sentences of up to 25 years,” the letter states. “The foundation for this claim rests entirely on anonymous informants of undisclosed reliability, relaying second and third hand accounts.”
Gray’s campaign said the letter was the latest attempt by Luna to use the courts to avoid legitimate criticism from political opponents both Republican and Democrat.
