The Campaign of Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California reached out to Illinois resident Jorge Rojas hoping to get some Campaign cash.
Instead, it had to dip into the coffers to settle a lawsuit Rojas brought claiming the Campaign violated federal robocalling laws, according to Insider.
Although the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 pre-dates texting technology, it now includes texts as well as traditional robocalls made to anyone who has joined the Do Not Call Registry.
In the lawsuit, Rojas accused the Pelosi Campaign of sending âillegal, Campaign-related pre-recorded and automated texts to Plaintiffâs telephone number, which were not consented to.â
âAs the Supreme Court has explained, Americans passionately disagree about many things. But they are largely united in their disdain for robocalls,â the lawsuit states.
According to the suit, Rojas âregistered his phone number on the Do Not Call Registry to obtain solitude from invasive and harassing telemarketing calls. The call prevented Plaintiff from using his phone for legitimate purposes.â
The lawsuit states Rojas received unwanted texts from the PelosiCampaign from November 2021 through July 2022. The lawsuit was filed in October
A November 2021 text read in part, âItâs Nancy Pelosi. I donât usually send you texts this long, but this is dire. Three reports just revealed Demsâ Majority is in critical danger. I need you to read my entire message, then rush $13 before tonightâs End of Month Deadline to keep Republicans from EVER holding power again.â
A June 2022 text seeking money said in part, âThis is the most important text Iâve ever sent you.â
The lawsuit said that even after Rojas sent the Pelosi campaign a message to stop the texts, messages from the then-House speaker kept rolling in.
As such, the suit states they âwere done with malicious, intentional, willful, reckless, Â wanton and negligent disregard for Plaintiffâs rights under the law and with the purpose of harassing Plaintiff.â
The lawsuit sought $31,500, an amount calculated on a per-text basis for 21 texts Rojas said he received.
A Federal Elections Commission filing â buried on page 5,496 â shows that Pelosiâs Campaign paid Rojas $7,500 on Feb. 21, calling the payment a âsettlement.â
In February, Los Angeles Times columnist Nicholas Goldberg bemoaned the continuing deluge of campaign contribution requests, dubbing the pleas âhyperbolic crap.â
âThe fundraising pleas I get are mostly from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and from a handful of politicians whose lists Iâve somehow fallen onto,â he wrote. âTheyâre sent under the names of members of Congress such as Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Hakeem Jeffries, with cameos from Barack Obama, Joe Biden and others. If I choose to contribute, my money is routed through the digital donation platform ActBlue.â
He noted that after last fallâs elections, the pleas for cash, âseemed to ratchet up from a previous level of frantic anxiety to a new plateau of panic and hysteria. Presumably, if they didnât, you might shrug it off and fail to rush for your wallet and your Xanax.â
Goldberg wrote that he gets the pleas even though he has never signed up to be on lists to get them, nor had he contributed to the candidates.
âIâm supposed to be flattered, I guess, that these bigwigs are taking time to write to me personally, relying on the use of first names to sound chummy. âAdam suggested I get in touch with you,â wrote Stacey Abrams, when she was running for governor. âNick, Iâm disgusted,â wrote Pelosi. âI wanted to tell you personally,ââ he wrote, referring to Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, whose donation requests Goldberg said he receives.
âIâm supposed to be ashamed when theyâre âdisappointedâ in me. As in, âNick weâve reached out 19 times⌠Now is not the time to ignore our emails, Nick,ââ he wrote. adding âAnd Iâm tired of being barraged day in and day out by patronizing, cheesy solicitations.â
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
