The County-City Building in Lincoln serves as the home to courtrooms in Lancaster County. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — The former chair of the Nebraska Republican Party testified Wednesday that he ‘demanded’ that a hard-hitting campaign mailer accusing a GOP candidate of breaking the law and losing her real estate license be “accurate” before it was mailed.
Nebraska Republican Party chairman Dan Welch, left, speaks during a “unity rally” in Lincoln. To the right are 1st District Mike Flood, Gov. Pete Ricketts and GOP gubernatorial nominee Jim Pillen. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)
“As long as this is accurate it’s OK. Might stir up some media attention,” Dan Welch, the former GOP chair texted to the paid executive director of the party in October of 2020.
“It was a tough piece,” Welch said, telling jurors he “hated attack ads,” but felt they were permitted if accurate and relevant to the race, including one pitting two Republicans against each other — Janet Palmtag, the owner of a Nebraska City real estate firm, and incumbent State Sen. Julie Slama.
Ryan Hamilton, the party’s executive director, responded in an email and in a phone conversation with Welch that he was “certain” it was true, and that he had read a consent agreement signed by the Iowa Real Estate Commission that backed up the accuracy “if anyone questions this.”
The testimony came during the third day of a trial over the alleged defamation of Palmtag by the Nebraska Republican Party during a contentious state legislative campaign in southeast Nebraska.
Palmtag, a long-time GOP volunteer who was backed by several prominent Republicans, lost the 2020 election to Slama, who was appointed to her seat and supported by then-Gov. Pete Ricketts. Three months after the election Palmtag filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was defamed. She is seeking damages from the state GOP for lost business and emotional distress.
Must prove actual malice
Palmtag, who is being represented by prominent Omaha attorney Dave Domina, must prove that the GOP acted with “actual malice” or reckless disregard for the facts in sending out the mailers, which she has labeled as “lies.”
Janet Palmtag of Nebraska City (Courtesy of Palmtag For Nebraska)
The case is viewed as an important one in the arena of political campaign speech, with the potential to set how far “hit pieces” can go in attacking a rival candidate.
Palmtag testified on Monday that she had voluntarily dropped her Iowa real estate license, and that of her firm, J.J. Palmtag Inc., because the market in the Hawkeye State near Nebraska City had been ruined by flooding.
Palmtag said that she had reached a “consent agreement” with the Iowa commission in 2018 to resolve a mistake made by a gravely ill salesman who had worked for her. She paid a $500 but admitted no violation of state laws. While everyone received their proper payments, the salesman had failed to get all the signatures required in Iowa to transfer an earnest deposit for the sale.
On Wednesday, Welch, an attorney and former member of the Omaha City Council, took the stand to tell jurors that in his opinion, an Iowa law had been broken.
But when asked by Domina if he now feels that Palmtag “lost her license” as the mailers stated, Welch’s answer was nuanced.
“What I now question is how she lost her license, and I don’t know the answer to that,” Welch said.
On Monday, the GOP’s lead attorney, Kamron Hasan told jurors that Hamilton had read the consent agreement and it stated that J.J. Palmtag “had not contested the alleged violation” of Iowa real estate law, and had looked up the status of the company and it read that its license had been “cancelled.”
That, Hasan said, showed that the claims in the campaign mailers were true.
Impact of ads
On Wednesday, Palmtag’s local physician and family friend, Dr. Bradley Vasa, testified that she is still being treated for symptoms of depression brought on by the campaign mailers he labeled “a hit piece” and “false.”
State Sen. Julie Slama, District 1. (Courtesy of Craig Chandler / UNL Communications)
“She changed after that,” Dr. Vasa said, following the mailers from the Nebraska GOP.
Palmtag was “more withdrawn” and less visible in Nebraska City, he said, and fewer “J.J. Palmtag” for-sale signs were visible around town.
Vasa also testified that Palmtag had been treated successfully for intermittent anxiety and migraine headaches prior to 2020, but insisted her condition had worsened after the contentious campaign.
Palmtag’s ex-husband, John, also testified that their 40-year marriage ended in part due to the hurt caused by the campaign claims he labeled as untrue.
Friends and local residents tended to believe they were true, he added, because they came from the party instead of an independent “dark money” group.
One long-time friend of Palmtag’s, Sara Crook, a retired Peru State professor, said she had noticed that Palmtag’s usually upbeat and outgoing personality had changed after the harsh campaign claims made against her in the 2020 campaign.
“In a small town, your reputation means a lot,” Crook said. “It hurt her reputation.”
“If a political party can turn on you,” she added, “how can we get good people to run for office?”
Testimony, via depositions from Hamilton and others, is expected to continue tomorrow with closing arguments scheduled Friday morning.
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