Rep. Carlos Curbelo with Sen. Marco Rubio at a press conference in June. | AP Photo/Alan Diaz Curbelo sends cease-and-desist to new PAC tying him to Trump

TALLAHASSEE — The campaign of Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo sent a cease-and-desist letter Monday to a new political action committee that is fueling social media sites and raising money off of a false “unity” campaigns that implies several Republicans are in line with Donald Trump’s campaign.

The order was sent to Americans for Sensible Solutions by Charles Spies, a well-known Republican campaign attorney representing the Miami incumbent. He wrote that the social media sites and website hawking Curbelo/Trump gear “fraudulently misrepresents” Curbelo, who has not agreed to work with the committee.


“Exploitation of Mr. Curbelo’s name, likeness and image to promote, advertise and market the social media accounts and the bogus merchandise falsely implies that Mr. Curbelo has granted you and ASSP certain rights to do so,” the letter read. “He has not.”

Spies wrote that the campaign would also be alerting the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice about the new committee.

Curbelo is in a heated re-election bid in the 26th Congressional District, which is Democratic-leaning after it was redrawn during redistricting. Not only has he not unified with Trump, but was one of the New York billionaire’s earliest Republican critics.

Curbelo spokeswoman Joanna Rodriguez said that "this district deserves an opportunity to focus on the real issues affecting South Florida families."

The site also asks people to “donate $64 to the Curbelo Trump Unity 2016 Campaign today!” through a linked PayPal account. In his letter, Spies told the committee to stop “raising political contribution by fraudulently misrepresenting and using Mr. Curbelo’s name and likeness.”

The cease-and-desist notice was sent to David Garrett, the Los Angeles-based committee’s listed treasurer. He did not return calls seeking comment.

The group was formed in May and failed to file its most recent campaign finance disclosure report, so it’s not yet clear who its donors are. The group received a failure to file notice last week from the FEC warning of possible civil penalties if it did not disclose financial disclosure forms detailing contributions and expenditures through June 30.

The website selling merchandise includes “unity hats,” “unity mugs,” and “unity buttons,” among other things that include the last names of more than 100 Republicans, some of whom are in tough re-election fights and have made the calculated decision to not fully embrace Trump. It also includes merchandise with the names of elected Republicans who, like Curbelo, are openly not supporting Trump. Most notably is Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who said Trump is too “bigoted and racist” to be president.

Curbelo will face the winner of the Democratic primary, which features Annette Taddeo against former Rep. Joe Garcia, who Curbelo beat in 2014. National Democrats eager to pick up the seat have lined up behind Taddeo, who has the support of groups like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Emily’s List.