Secretary of State asks Google to remove anti-Moore ad

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill this week asked Google to take down an anti-Roy Moore ad from its digital platforms due to language meant to “misinform and confuse voters.”

Merrill on Thursday said Google, the parent company of YouTube, had removed the ad. The ad could not be found in a search of Google or YouTube early Thursday evening.

Highway 31, a Super PAC supporting Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Doug Jones’ campaign, paid for the digital spot that said “your vote is public record, and your community will know whether or not you stopped Roy Moore.”

A source familiar with the matter said Highway 31’s ad was flagged, triggering a standard review that found it fell under the “misleading content” category of Google’s advertising policies due to a perceived implication that a voter’s ballot is public record.

Roy Moore’s campaign held a news conference in Montgomery Thursday morning chiefly to denounce attack ads from the PAC.

Ben DuPre, a spokesman for the campaign and longtime Moore associate, denounced what he called “an aggressive statewide effort to spread lies about Judge Moore.”

“We want to remind Alabama voters (that they) should not be intimidated by anyone who would suppress or intimidate your vote,” DuPre said.

Adam Muhlendorf, a Highway 31 spokesman, said in a statement Thursday that the PAC “was in contact with Google to ensure the ad runs through Election Day.”

“The fact of the matter remains that John Merrill is inferring an intent that is simply not true,” Muhlendorf’s statement said. He did not respond when asked if Highway 31 would retool or change the ad’s language in accordance with Google’s ad policies.

The Montgomery Advertiser on Dec. 1 sent a cease-and-desist letter to the PAC over a direct mailer that included the Advertiser’s name in a mock masthead, leaving the impression the newspaper produced it.

More: Anti-Moore ad 'inaccurate,' misleading, Secretary of State says

Super PACs, including the pro-Trump America First Super PAC, have bought ads attacking Jones. DuPre said the former Alabama chief justice “did not have a problem” with Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court case that allowed dark money in campaigns, and suggested improved reporting could address the issue.

Campaign trail

Roy Moore, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former Alabama Chief Justice, did not make public appearances Thursday, though he spoke on a Huntsville radio station in the morning taking questions from Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle, a longtime supporter.

DuPre said Moore was not talking to reporters about allegations of harassment, assault and improper behavior with Alabama teenagers when he was in his 30s and an assistant district attorney, because “you’re not voting for him.” DuPre also said he did not expect Moore to attend a rally held by President Donald Trump in Pensacola, Florida, Friday, though he welcomed it.

“He’s campaigning hard and we’re looking forward to President Trump being at the coast tomorrow,” he said.

Jones did hit the campaign trail on Thursday, meeting with phone bank volunteers at a Huntsville field office. House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, introduced Jones.

“If having over several thousand volunteers is not energizing, then I don’t know what is,” Daniels said when asked about Democratic turnout next week.

Jones said his campaign has attracted some 15,000 to 20,000 volunteers to make phone calls and knock on doors around the state. .

“That is indicative of what we have felt for so long. It is a movement of people across the state who have decided enough is enough,” Jones said. “This is not Steve Bannon’s state. This is our state.”

Huntsville resident Doris Jean on Thursday was finishing her seventh straight day of phone banking for Jones, her first public foray into politics.

"I was motivated by the current climate," Jean said. "I wanted to re-channel the frustration I was feeling.”

Huntsville is a must get for Jones, who needs to perform well in the urban enclaves of Madison and Mobile counties, in addition to Jefferson and Montgomery.

Daniels said Thursday his constituents have heard outspoken support from Jones for the aerospace and defense industries, the Huntsville area’s economic bread and butter.

“We have not heard the judge talk about issues relative to Redstone Arsenal,” Daniels said of Moore. “He’s talked about the military, but there’s a huge civilian workforce out of the Arsenal as well. Whenever an employer is thinking about moving into Huntsville, we don’t want them to be afraid of what our senator may say or do. We want to make sure we have a partner for Richard Shelby in Washington D.C., not someone who will be an adversary.”

Jones is expected to crisscross the state through the weekend while pulling in heavy hitters from the national party. The Washington Post reports Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Georgia Rep. John Lewis will be in the state on Sunday to stump for Jones at the invitation of Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell. Sewell’s office has not returned request for comment.

Brian Lyman contributed to this report.