Americans are used to politicians “bending the truth” when it comes to their own records or the records of their opponent. This election, however, has seen some advertising not only “bending” truth but just abandoning it. One such case is the Senate race in Pennsylvania. Mehmet Oz’s campaign, along with some pro-Oz PACs have been repeating some things about John Fetterman that are simply false or just way out of context.

We decided to correct the record.

‘On taxes” – Fetterman bought a number of properties under the entity Braddock Redux. Most were various states of liens/probate/etc… and John was in the process of either assuming the liens or dealing with the taxes with Allegheny County. Some were commercial properties, and some were residential properties. The total amount of back taxes totaled approximately $13K. Considering most properties in Braddock range between an assessed value of $1000 and $70,000, $13000 in taxes is minimal. All have been resolved. Side note: I am personally familiar with property values in Braddock, Braddock Redux, and what John did with the properties he purchased at that time.

“Living off his parents” – John was on track to start an MBA at UConn in 1993. His best friend was driving to visit him, got into a car crash, and died. John decided to revisit his life goals – he already had a position in business that was personally lucrative. He joined Big Brothers, Big Sisters and then AmeriCorps. Then he went on to start a GED program in Braddock in the mid-2000s. After that, he ran for mayor. The mayoral position paid $150 per month. His parents had the means to support him to allow him to pursue some of the servant-leader things he aspired to do. He did not live in their basement until age 49 or anything like that. If my child came to me and said that he wanted to do something ambitious but needed financial support, if I had the means, I would do so.

“On crime” – Fetterman has only said that he would like to do away with the mandatory life sentence for second degree murder, and leave sentencing up to the judge instead. Also, on the subject of crime, Oz’s campaign has used a chopped quote to make it seem as though Fetterman, as chairman of the Board of Pardons, wants to release all felony murderers immediately but the full clip of the conversation shows Fetterman was actually talking about two particular inmates.

Here is what John Fetterman said:

“The Horton brothers were called the two finest inmates in our state prison system, the two you know? I have made getting them out of prison, like the most, you know, critical thing I’ll ever do. There isn’t anything that I won’t do within the limits of the law and my office, to make sure that they are free,”

The Horton brothers were wrongly convicted of felony murder. You can find out what actually happened on the next section dealing with the charge against Fetterman that he “hires felons.”

“On hiring felons” – As for the felon’s case, that one is easy. He hired two brothers who were convicted of murder. The two brothers were in fact convicted of murder…wrongly. They were driving around when they were younger and ended up picking up their friend. Unknown to them, their friend had just shot someone. The prosecutors offered them a reduced sentence IF they ratted out their friend. They said that they could not testify against him as they did not participate in anything, see anything, or even know about it until well after the fact. So, the DA instead charged them with murder as they were unwitting and unknowing accomplices. They were eventually released (after a collective 30 years of wrongful imprisonment) but because their records were not expunged, they are still convicted murderers. So, John hired them instead.

He is truly “walking the talk” regarding felons and rehabilitation.

“On drugs” – John Fetterman is for the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana in PA. He would also like to remove it as a Schedule 1 drug, which says it has no medicinal value. The only sources out there that say he wants to legalize or decriminalize all drugs are GOP-funded or GOP-specific sources and are propaganda.

Editor’s Note: We received most of the above information via a social media post. Lancaster Courier has fact checked all the claims and they do check out. The post we received was not credited or copyrighted so we are unable to give that credit at the time of this writing. Also, this is not an endorsement of John Fetterman. We just wanted to correct the blatant lies that are being told about him.

Featured image via screen capture.