(AP) — A federal lawsuit accuses a conservative group of illegally sending unsolicited texts that appeared to come from Indiana Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly’s office.
The suit filed Friday on behalf of two Indiana residents contends the Judicial Crisis Network sent texts to them and others suggesting they call Donnelly and urge him to support Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
The suit says people who called the number the texts were sent from were connected with Donnelly’s Washington office, “creating the impression” they came from there.
The plaintiffs allege the group violated federal law barring unsolicited texts sent by automated systems and Indiana law prohibiting sending misleading or inaccurate caller identification information.
A spokeswoman for the group denied the lawsuit’s allegations.
A spokesman for Donnelly’s campaign called the texts “underhanded.”