The Republican Attorney Generals Association (RAGA) launched a new ad attack ad on Phil Weiser based on his work in a 2005 pro bono case. This ad is blatantly false—at no time did Phil serve as a criminal defense lawyer for the incarcerated criminal.

If RAGA wants to have a conversation about the candidates’ pasts, let’s look no further than Mr. Brauchler’s time spent making money by defending and reducing the sentences of admitted campus sex assailants, sex offenders apprehended near playgrounds, drunk drivers charged with seriously injuring victims, and others.

This is just RAGA’s latest attempt to distract voters from George Brauchler’s record of professional incompetence and his extreme stances on the issues that matter most to Coloradans.

RAGA’s ad is blatantly false.

In 2005, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reached out to Phil and asked him to make a pro bono argument on a Constitutional question. That question was whether a prison’s method for calculating “good time credits” complied with the Constitution.

Based on Phil’s constitutional argument, a three-judge panel—including two judges appointed by Republican Presidents—agreed that the calculation method was legally suspect, and so ordered further proceedings in the case to take place at the district court.

At no point was Phil the prisoner’s criminal defense lawyer, nor did Phil “defend” any individual prisoner—the case was a civil matter.

If RAGA wants to have a conversation about the candidates’ pasts, let’s look no further than Mr. Brauchler’s.

Mr. Brauchler often speaks with pride about his record defending accused and convicted criminals, bragging on video that as a defense lawyer “no client of mine has ever been convicted in trial,” and that, “I have beaten the very office I represent at trial,” and, most alarmingly given the admitted acts of some of his sex-molester clients, “no client of mine ever went to the Department of Corrections, and I count myself lucky to be able to say that.”

One paying client, for example, admitted that he had forcibly molested a Colorado State University student while she was incapacitated by “roofies,” and that he knew, at the time, that she was too drugged to consent.

Thanks to Mr. Brauchler, this campus sex molester was able to plead guilty to lesser charges, and “lucky” for him, avoided jail time or being listed on sex offender registries.

Another one of Brauchler’s criminal defense clients included a sex offender charged with and convicted for exposing himself and publicly masturbating near a playground in suburban Boulder County (People v. King, 2008 M 001877). Brauchler also represented a client charged with attacking a police officer and convicted for resisting arrest (People v. Trapier, 2010 CR 001799).

It’s clear RAGA’s false claims about Phil Weiser are just a distraction from Brauchler’s concerning history of making money by defending dangerous people.

RAGA might be up on TV ads, but Colorado voters are up on the facts. RAGA’s lies, and distraction tactics will not stop the people of Colorado from voting for the candidate who they can trust to keep them safe: Phil Weiser.