CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A new political website has sprung up, appropriating the "Me Too" movement to attack Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown over allegations stemming from his 1986 divorce.
The website, www.metooohio.com, includes a 60-second video that references court records from Brown's divorce with his then-wife, Larke Recchie, as well as excerpts from the records themselves. The ugly divorce, which included allegations that Brown "bullied" and shoved Recchie, has come up in many of Brown's campaigns, including his 1992 race for Congress and his 2012 re-election campaign to the U.S. Senate. Recchie is now a political supporter of Brown's and has described "angry words" that surrounded their divorce.
The website, anonymously registered earlier this month, has the hallmarks of a "dark money" political group -- in other words, it was designed to obscure who created it. However, there is a trail of digital footprints that tie the site to Majority Strategies, a prominent Republican political firm that has done hundreds of thousands of dollars work for a Super PAC supporting U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, Brown's opponent in the November election, the Renacci campaign and the Ohio Republican Party.
It's unclear whether the ad is part of a larger advertising campaign that could put it on TV, making judging the amount of funding behind the ad difficult or impossible.
Renacci's campaign denied involvement with the website, but in a statement, Renacci amplified its contents.
"Violence against women in any form is not acceptable and has no place in our society," Renacci said. "Sherrod Brown's well documented history of domestic violence is deeply troubling. Ohioans deserve to know all the facts, and judge his fitness for public office for themselves."
In a statement distributed by Brown's campaign on Thursday, Recchie called the website "disgusting." Recchie and her current husband are political supporters of Brown, and hosted a high-dollar fundraiser for Brown at their home in the Columbus area last weekend. Recchie and Brown's current wife, former Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz, filmed an ad together in 2006, when Brown was challenging then-Sen. Mike DeWine, anticipating DeWine may raise the issue. But it never came up, so the ad was never released.
Recchie said in 1992, when Brown was running for congress and the issue came up: "Divorce can often be an unfriendly ordeal, and ours was no exception. There was a lot of hurt on both sides, and it led only to angry words."
"This isn't the first time someone has gone after my family to score cheap political points," Recchie said in the Thursday statement. "I'm dismayed that Congressman Renacci would do something this shameless, despite the fact that I've already addressed this matter. I was proud to support Sherrod in 2006 and 2012 -- just as I am this time around. Anyone who suggests he is not an honorable man is just wrong. He's a great father to our daughters Emily and Liz and he's a wonderful grandfather to our grandchildren. Disparaging my family for political gain is disgusting, and Congressman Renacci should know better."
More about the divorce
"Now, Sherrod Brown is facing his own Me Too moment from his past," the ad's female narrator says in the digital video. "These court records show sworn evidence that Brown's ex-wife accused him of abusing her." The ad also references current Democratic Ohio lieutenant governor candidate Betty Sutton's recent discussion about being a survivor of domestic violence, as well as recent domestic violence allegations against a former Ohio State University assistant football coach.
Records from the 1986 divorce, which have made the rounds in Ohio political circles for decades, convey a deep level of animosity between Brown and his ex-wife. In one filing, Larke Recchie requested a restraining order against Brown, saying she was "in fear for the safety and well-being of myself and our children due to (Brown's) physical violence and abusive nature."
As previously reported by The Plain Dealer, she later sought to keep Brown from going further than the curb when he came to pick up their young daughters for visitation. She said in a supporting affidavit that Brown "intimidated, pushed, shoved and bullied" her on several occasions.
In that filing, Recchie described an incident in which Brown arrived at her house to pick up their children for a court-ordered visit.
She wrote that Brown "pushed me up against the wall with his arms in order to pass and enter the house" and "He refused to leave when asked and began to say insulting, derogatory things about me, my mothering of my children and my character in front of my friends and my children."
She concluded by saying that "I am definitely afraid of my husband, that he has struck and bullied me on several different occasions, he has completely destroyed my peace of mind and that I am extremely intimidated by him."
A passage from the 2012 Plain Dealer story further cites a Columbus Dispatch story from April 1989, when Brown was Ohio secretary of state:
"Brown's ex-wife accused him of malicious destruction of property and filed a police report saying Brown broke the door after pounding on it. She did not follow up with charges."
"The Dispatch story also said that Brown assaulted his ex-wife's new husband, Joseph Recchie, grabbing him around the neck and beginning to strangle him. Joseph Recchie filed a complaint but did not follow up with formal charges, the Dispatch reported."
The allegations have periodically dogged Brown, but haven't derailed his political career.
Still, they have the potential to be a political liability for him, particularly as he's increasingly become a national political figure, viewed as a possible future vice-presidential or presidential candidate.
Dark money group has ties to Ohio Republicans
MeToo Ohio is a Super PAC created on Sept. 5 by Lisa Lisker, a Republican political consultant in the Washington D.C. area, federal election records show.
News of the site was first reported earlier Thursday by The Daily Caller, a Washington-D.C. based conservative news website. The article also links to records from Brown's divorce hosted on www.majoritystrategieshosting.com. The website shares a similar name with Majority Strategies, a prominent Republican political consulting firm led by Brett Buerck, an Ohio native.
This screenshot shows the MeTooOhio template that appeared on the Majority Strategies website. It was removed after this story was published.
MeTooOhio.com shares a common IP address, a unique number assigned to each digitally connected device, with www.majoritystrategieshosting.com. As of Thursday afternoon, the latter website contained a publicly visible directory of files including Majority Strategies press releases and a directory of myriad political websites, including what appears to be a template for the MeTooOhio website and a template for another website supporting Ohio Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs.
Renacci's Senate campaign has paid $37,050 to Majority Strategies for political mail and delivery, federal election records show. The Ohio First PAC, a Super PAC created to support Renacci's campaign, has reported owing Majority Strategies more than $534,000 for printing, TV and radio commercials and research, federal election records show. The firm also has done hundreds of thousands of dollars of work for the Ohio Republican Party.
Reached for comment, Buerck initially did not confirm or deny that Majority Strategies was behind the site. However, after this story was published, the publicly visible directories and some of the pages on www.majoritystrategieshosting.com were removed.
Late Thursday, hours after this story published, a spokeswoman for MeTooOhio passed along a statement from Buerck acknowledging Majority Strategies' connection to the group, saying it was working "with all of the necessary legal firewalls in place."
But, he said the focus on his firm's role distracted from the important work the group was doing.
"No one should be surprised that we were hired to work with Me Too Ohio, and we are grateful for the opportunity to be involved," Buerck said.
The ad directs viewers to call Congress to "demand laws that allow every victim to be heard." The website also calls on viewers to call Congress and demand Brown's resignation.
Because it doesn't make a specific reference to Brown's election or Renacci, it likely can under campaign finance laws, technically be characterized as issue-based advocacy rather than an election-related ad, which would trigger greater disclosure requirements. Under campaign-finance law, Renacci is forbidden from coordinating with the group.
A message to an email listed on the site was not immediately returned.
Ohio Republican Party Chairman Jane Timken also issued a statement shortly after the website was launched. The statement does not mention the women who have accused Republican President Donald Trump of sexual harassment or assault, including Rachel Crooks, who's now running for a Northwest Ohio state representative seat as a Democrat.
"The rise of the #MeToo movement has helped women across the country find the courage to speak out against their abusers," Timken said. "In 2018, more women are coming forward than ever before and the culture of sweeping abuse and harassment under the rug is no longer acceptable. Sherrod Brown must be held to the same standard he claims to support. He owes Ohioans an explanation."