Attorneys for Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s campaign have sent a cease-and-desist letter to Attorney General Josh Stein and his campaign for allegedly running a TV ad that includes a series of misleading statements and visuals depicting a childcare center that the lieutenant governor and his wife, Yolanda Hill, ran in Greensboro between 2005 and 2007.

“This letter puts Josh Stein and his campaign on notice that this advertisement contains false and defamatory information,” said Attorneys Charles Spies and Benjamin Mehr, counsel to Mark Robinson and Friends of Mark Robinson campaign. “Both Josh Stein personally and his campaign will bear liability if the advertisement continues to air.”

The ad recreates registered complaints found by state inspectors at the couple’s former Precious Beginnings facility.

Source: Josh Stein for North Carolina YouTube page.

An announcer says during the ad, “State documents show it was unsanitary and endangered children. The Robinsons were officially cited for lack of supervision and uncovered electrical outlets around one year olds. Inspectors found falsified staff credentials and no criminal background checks. Documents showed the daycare center even operated at times without lights or running water.”  

The ad concludes with the announcer saying that Mark Robinson is unsafe for our kids and unfit to be governor.

Robinson hit back on X on Friday, calling out Stein’s campaign for the “latest and misleading claims in their new ad.”

“Unfortunately, this is not the first time Stein and his campaign have been caught lying,” he said. “He got himself in legal hot water in his last election for lying about his opponent. I have made it clear since day one that I am not going to allow this campaign to be thrown into the mud. I am going to stick to the everyday issues that North Carolinians care about – even if my opponent won’t.”

Spies and Mehr’s letter states that the ad claims that state documents show the childcare center was “unsanitary and endangered children.”

The attorneys said while the childcare center was occasionally cited on technicalities — like serving chicken tenders, peaches, green beans, and milk without bread for lunch — no official documents state that the childcare center was unsanitary or endangered children. The attorneys said the ad further attempts to mislead voters by showing graphics indicating these terms were citations from state documents.

The letter said, “The ad continues on to display multiple graphics showing an electrical socket out of the wall around children in an attempt to mislead voters about the content of the state reports. To be clear, there were no loose electric cords or circuits sticking out of the wall at the childcare center.”

Spies and Mehr said the state report explicitly says that the childcare center and the inspector disagreed about whether the outlets needed to be covered because they were the “safety type that does not require a cover.” After examining the plugs, the attorneys said the inspector found the childcare center did, in fact, have safety outlets and that it “appeared” that there also were some standard outlets that should be covered when not in use.

According to Spies and Mehr, the claim that “the daycare center even operated at times without lights, heat, or running water” is also false and misleading.

“While one state report mentions that the lights had been cut off before, it then states that it is “unknown if the daycare has running water at this time,” the letter went on. “At no point does any state report state that the daycare center did not have running water, and it is false to transform something that is “unknown” into a statement of fact.”

Spies and Mehr point out that Stein has a well-documented history of running false and misleading ads.

“It is disappointing that after years of litigation and criminal charges related to his running false ads, Stein is continuing his old dishonest tactics,” the pair said.

The controversy stemmed from Stein’s 2020 re-election campaign. Stein, a Democrat, defeated Republican challenger Jim O’Neill, the Forsyth County district attorney. Stein’s winning margin was just 13,622 votes out of 5.4 million ballots cast.

Stein and O’Neill criticized each other during the campaign over the issue of untested rape kits. After O’Neill accused Stein of allowing thousands of rape kits to remain untested and “sitting on a shelf,” Stein responded with a TV ad titled “Survivor.”

The ad featured Juliette Grimmett, a sexual assault survivor who worked for Stein in the NC Justice Department. At one point in the ad, Grimmett said, “When I learned that Jim O’Neill left 1,500 rape kits on a shelf leaving rapists on the streets, I had to speak out.”

O’Neill filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections, calling the ad false and defamatory. He cited a state law, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-274(a)(9), that dates back to 1931. The statute declares it unlawful, as a Class 2 misdemeanor, “For any person to publish or cause to be circulated derogatory reports with reference to any candidate in any primary or election, knowing such report to be false or in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity, when such report is calculated or intended to affect the chances of such candidate for nomination or election.”

The case was eventually turned over to a grand jury, but Stein disputed the law.  A 2-1 ruling from the 4th Circuit in August 2022 gave Stein an injunction against the law.

The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled in favor of Stein in February 2023, agreeing that Stein was likely to win his argument that the challenged law violated the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

“North Carolina voters deserve to know the truth about both candidates and their records, and you have a legal obligation not to publish false smears designed to mislead voters,” the letter concludes. “In light of Stein previously having to litigate defending himself because of his false attacks on a political opponent, we note that both Stein and his campaign are now on formal notice that his advertisement is false and defamatory. Continuing to air this advertisement and/or repeat the false attacks will be considered malicious.”

Robinson has been faced with a series of negative attacks, including his stance on abortion, controversy over a speech he gave at a church last month, and an investigation into a defunct nonprofit.

His campaign is staunchly defending his wife Yolanda Hill’s now-closed nonprofit, Balanced Nutrition Inc., following recent allegations of financial and operational irregularities leveled by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.

The state agency made the claims following an investigation that launched after Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign kicked off in April 2023. Robinson faces NC Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, who is endorsed by outgoing Gov. Roy Cooper.

The DHHS report suggests that BNI failed to comply with several administrative and financial guidelines, leading to the state’s decision to order the business to pay $132,000 back to the state in disallowed expense claims, including part of Hill’s salary. The agency also sent BNI a “Notice of Serious Deficiency” for reporting of expenditures.

Hill is appealing the order, with Robinson’s campaign team asserting that the investigation and allegations are politically motivated and timed to damage Robinson’s campaign.