Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is demanding that a parody website "cease and desist" operation because it is "defamatory" to the congresswoman.
Comedy writer Toby Morton revealed on Twitter that he had been contacted by the lawmaker's press secretary.
"Jake is the Press Secretary for @laurenboebert," Morton wrote. "Lauren told Jake to use his government email to send me a cease and desist order to take down my website, http://TheLaurenBoebert.com. Jake is not a lawyer. Jake is an idiot."
The website creator also shared the email that he received from Settle.
In the email, Settle claims that the website "needs to be taken down since the photos on here are copyrighted property of the U.S. Federal Government."
"They are property of the office of Congressman Lauren Boebert, and use of them is unauthorized and illegal," the email says. "Additionally, the entire website is a defamatory impersonation, and it goes against relevant terms of service and U.S. law. Please remove it immediately or face further action."
Settle did not specify which U.S. laws had been violated or what "further action" might be taken by Boebert's office.
Boebert's office has previously sent "cease and desist" notices to Morton and claimed that the photos on his website are copyrighted "despite the fact that they are public-domain photos made available by the U.S. government," Westword reported in May.
Read the tweets below.
This is Jake Settle. Jake is the Press Secretary for @laurenboebert. Lauren told Jake to use his government email to send me a cease and desist order to take down my website, https://t.co/zjr5H9soIR. Jake is not a lawyer. Jake is an idiot. pic.twitter.com/mP6nEJfLF1
— Toby Morton (@tobymorton) July 14, 2021
— Toby Morton (@tobymorton) July 14, 2021
