North Carolina AG in legal bind amid probe over 2020 TV ad
By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The campaign committee of North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein plans to ask a federal court to block enforcement of a state law looming in a probe of a TV ad aired against Stein’s election rival in 2020. The state law makes it illegal to knowingly circulate false reports to damage a candidate’s election chances. Stein beat Republican Jim O’Neill that November. A Stein committee attorney filed the notice Wednesday, after a judge refused to stop a district attorney from potentially using the law to prosecute anyone over the disputed 2020 campaign ad. No one’s been charged. Stein’s committee argues the law is overly broad and chills political speech.