A lawyer representing President Donald Trump last month sent a cease-and-desist letter instructing Brandon Herrera, a Republican candidate in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, to stop using the president’s image and likeness in campaign materials.
The letter, which was obtained by The Texas Tribune, was sent Jan. 27 to Herrera and his joint fundraising committee by Jesse Franklin-Murdock, a California lawyer at the Dhillon Law Group, a firm which has often represented Trump in legal matters. Franklin-Murdock, identifying himself as a representative of the president and Never Surrender, Inc., Trump’s leadership PAC, accuses Herrera of sending a deceptive mailer with Trump’s image on it.
Trump has endorsed Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, in the uber-competitive Republican primary for the district. The mailer, according to the cease-and-desist letter, creates a false impression of Trump’s position in the race by depicting Herrera and Trump in side-by-side images that are edited to appear as if the two are posing together. It was sent out by the Brandon Herrera Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee between Herrera’s campaign and his leadership PAC.
