Heidi Heitkamp: Hey, Sorry For Releasing Names Of Sexual Assault Survivors Without Their Permission

HotAir broke this one yesterday, and so far, no one has picked up on it.

Heidi Heitkamp's campaign, in rushing to capitalize on #MeToo and try to save her election chances in the wake of the Kavanaugh Effect, committed what could be a serious blunder with legal ramification.

She ran a survivors' ad.

See, her challenger made remarks about how female members of his family could not understand the victimization stance of so many of the #MeToo movement. Truthfully, I don't get it either. It's not that I don't sympathize with people who are victims, but they need to seek to heal and move on, not dwell on it so badly that they make every male wear the face of their attacker or abuser like some of these women clearly do.

Anyhow ...

Sen Heitkamp was upset by this and apparently decided to capitalize on it by running a full-page ad in the Bismarck Times and several other papers on Sunday. The ad contains a statement about survivors of sexual abuse and is signed by 127 women who, in the context of the ad, are identifying themselves as survivors. But some of the women named in the ad came forward to say they never consented to have their names appear in it.

This is where the problems begin. The women named by Heitkamp didn't consent to be named, and even worse than that not all of them are victims!

Somehow, the Heitkamp campaign generated a list of names that isn't even all authentic and they never asked these women if they wanted to be identified. One woman said this to the AP when they asked her about it:

Lexi Zhorela told The Associated Press that she learned of the ad Monday night

“I’m furious,” the 24-year-old hairdresser and single mother from Bismarck said. “I know I’m not the only woman hurt by this.”

Zhorela said she was listed in the ad because she had been tagged by a friend in a Facebook post who knew she had been the victim of sexual assault.

“I have only shared my story with a couple of people in confidence,” she said. “I didn’t want it blasted for the world to see.”

Zhorela said she had intended to vote for Heitkamp in November but will “definitely not now.”

According to her, she never told more than a few people, and she *still* wound up in this ad. Either some of the few people she told in confidence weren't very trustworthy, or one of them was connected to Heitkamp directly (still not trustworthy).

So the question is now where these names were pulled from, especially since some of them weren't even victims to begin with but now everyone connected to them thinks they are. How embarrassing and humiliating.

And now, despite an apology from the Heitkamp campaign, lawyers are getting involved. Sometimes sorry won't cut it. Imagine living in a small town of 500 or so and suddenly being falsely outed as a survivor of sexual assault or rape or abuse. That can roil entire communities.

What will be the grounds for the lawsuit? Invasion of privacy for anyone who didn’t consent to be publicly named, and perhaps libel in cases where the women weren’t victims of domestic violence at all. Invasion of privacy does cover the public disclosure of “embarrassing private information” for those who are not “public persons,” which certainly seems applicable in this case. Libel might be a tough haul under these circumstances, as it usually applies to falsehoods that damage one’s reputation; being called a victim of domestic violence isn’t exactly an insult. However, the domestic partners of those women, past and present, might have a case for it. A coordinated lawsuit might have a wide number of plaintiffs, if the attorney they get is adventurous enough.

This is a colossal blunder. Heitkamp has got a tough job recovering from this one.

I doubt she will recover. She was already down by double digits in the polls, so this blunder is just the cherry on top. Plus I hear she is just blaming the mistake on a staffer now instead of owning up to her mistakes as real leaders do.

This may not have been such a big blunder if it happened back in April...

But timing is















Everything

I had to search several pages to find her party affiliations. I should have known. Is it just me or has the Democratic Party became a Cocktail Party joke.

m.youtube.com...

a reply to: Middleoftheroad

Could be due to a staffer or campaign manager rather...

We all know about the Ron Paul mishaps, right?

I'm not sure every single piece of the campaign goes before the campaigner his/herself - and I'm sure it varies from person to person.

Just playing devil's advocate. Either way, these politicians can certainly look better if they just own up to mistakes, especially honest mistakes. Such slimy individuals with no accountability!

From her statement:

to ensure this never happens again

Lol. Ya, no sh!t...you won’t be in office to show your ass again, so you’re right on that one.

The chair was already lost to the Dems anyway. This is just the final nail in the coffin.

a reply to: six67seven

Yeah, someone messed up bigly; that's for sure.

One thing's for sure, no matter what you are doing, you don't use a person's name unless you know they'd approve of it.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: six67seven

Yeah, someone messed up bigly; that's for sure.

One thing's for sure, no matter what you are doing, you don't use a person's name unless you know they'd approve of it.

That's what I was getting at. I know everything regarding the campaign isn't ran by the candidate, but when you name names, especially regarding sexual assault victims, I'd assume some double checks would've happened. But I guess not.

a reply to: ketsuko

Man this week is the gift that keeps on giving.

a reply to: ketsuko

How does "...or were not survivors of abuse" happen????

Amazing.

Another successful attack on our democracy by the russians.

I don't know how they are doing it, but they are doing it.

They did this, they manipulated the warren situation into happening, and I'm positive they used some sort of mind control on the people that were interviewed in the recent project veritas reports.

Because of them russians, we will be relegated to several more years of nazi control via the republican party. We were also cheated out of a historic first, via warrens future presidential run and assured win. We could have had not only the first woman president, but the first native american president. A truly historic opportunity.

Doxxing their own constituents now...classy move! What kind of mentality, even for a second, would think that this was a good play?

Almost starting to feel like the Dems are trying to throw the election, like when the Repubs ran McCain.

a reply to: tjack

The Democratic party is in really bad shape right now.

a reply to: loam

I am guessing someone found a list of names and didn't actually check what that list was all about in some fashion.

Does this mean she cannot be trusted with government secrets.

Here is her radio "apology" on AM1100.

www.am1100theflag.com...

Starts at 19:35.

Listening now.

a reply to: carewemust

Yes and no. Their candidates for the House are killing it. The Senate though... This will be the one of rare occasions where the ruling party actually picks up seats in the midterm.

originally posted by: tjack
Doxxing their own constituents now...classy move! What kind of mentality, even for a second, would think that this was a good play?

Almost starting to feel like the Dems are trying to throw the election, like when the Repubs ran McCain.

Throwing the election, its probably the smart move. Circle your wagons endure best you can, and give the Republicans enough rope to hang themselves. Lets face it in todays world the incumbents get ravaged as public trust is at a low for public officials. Doubt the GOP cant survive 2-3 years without a few blunders themselves. Dems need to be less conspicuous in their efforts to discredit the Republicans and Trump. Just let nature take its course, sooner or later they will legitimately caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

a reply to: putnam6

No, they won't.

If they take the House, the crazy will continue. They'll likely move articles of impeachment against both Trump and Kavanaugh or at least attempt it.