A University of Nevada, Reno professor says his comments were presented out of context in a political ad criticizing Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto. Our News Director Michelle Billman reports.
The ad was produced by a Republican Super PAC and includes footage from a public hearing back in 2014. Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BNMBTl1Bmk
The male voice you heard is Professor Richard Siegel who is asking that the ad be taken down.
"They took it out of context to suggest that she had not seen anything about the process of dealing with sexual assault kits, which was very important at that time and it was an embarrassing implication."
Brian Baluta is campaign spokesman for Republican Representative Joe Heck who is running against Cortez Masto. He says even though the campaign didn't sponsor this ad, they stand behind it.
"The context is that this was a public hearing and is part of Catherine Cortez Masto's public record as attorney general. And nothing changes the fact that she was ignorant of this very important issue in the final months of her second term in office."
Campaign officials for Cortez Masto dispute that claim and say she has a track record of helping sexual assault victims.