New reporting this morning reveals that Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick is using fake citations in his attack ads that are written by a convicted felon and longtime personal friend who he has directly paid.
POLITICO reports that a series of attack ads run by Fitzpatrick falsely aim to pass off fake blog entries on Patch.com as news citations. According to records reviewed by POLITICO, “Each of the articles cited carry the byline of Dave Sommers, a Levittown, Pennsylvania, man with close ties to Fitzpatrick and a checkered history with law enforcement.”
POLITICO reveals Fitzpatrick has directly paid him, hired him, and invited him to his wedding: “Sommers has received sporadic payments and reimbursements from Fitzpatrick’s campaign,” he “has been pictured with Fitzpatrick at campaign and personal events,” and he “attended Fitzpatrick’s June wedding.” Sommers is a federally convicted felon who was sentenced to prison time for trafficking protected turtles.
In response to his web of lies? “Spokespeople for the Fitzpatrick campaign also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.”
DCCC Spokesperson Eli Cousin:
“This is one of the biggest political scandals of the campaign cycle: Brian Fitzpatrick has been caught in a massive web of lies. Fitzpatrick pretends to be a reasonable guy in Washington, but back home in Bucks he’s paid thousands of dollars to his longtime friend and federally convicted felon, who writes fake blog posts that Fitzpatrick puts millions of dollars behind to fuel completely fabricated attack ads. Washington has changed Fitzpatrick, and this scandal is the most damning proof yet.”
- Facing his toughest election challenge in years, GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has blanketed southeast Pennsylvania with attacks on his Democratic opponent — many of them citing what appear to be independent local news reports.
- These ads […] all cite headlines from Patch, once a well-funded experiment in “hyperlocal” news that garnered hefty audiences in some communities but has since withered into a largely unedited volunteer operation.
- That isn’t the only reason to question the reliability of coverage referenced in the ads: Each of the articles cited carry the byline of Dave Sommers, a Levittown, Pennsylvania, man with close ties to Fitzpatrick and a checkered history with law enforcement.
- Central to the GOP defense strategy has been a costly ad blitz, with Fitzpatrick and allies trying to paint Harvie not as a devoted public servant but as an ethically compromised political operator — using Sommers’ headlines as key fodder.
- Sommers has received sporadic payments and reimbursements from Fitzpatrick’s campaign, as well as from the campaign of his late brother, Republican Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, dating back to 2010. As recently as 2022, Brian Fitzpatrick’s campaign paid Sommers $500 for “office setup services,” according to Federal Election Commission records.
- That year, Sommers was charged with stealing an election sign that expressed support for a GOP primary challenger, Alex Entin, according to a local news report.
- Sommers has been pictured with Fitzpatrick at campaign and personal events. Fitzpatrick’s Facebook page shows Sommers posing next to the lawmaker at a March 2025 St. Patrick’s Day parade.
- Sommers’ own Facebook has featured a stream of posts supporting Fitzpatrick, including one post from June where Sommers is seen sporting a tank top with the phrase “Team Fitz.” Sommers also attended Fitzpatrick’s June wedding, according to multiple social media posts.
- Sommers did not respond to repeated requests for comment about his relationship to Fitzpatrick and his campaign. Spokespeople for the Fitzpatrick campaign also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
- [Sommers] drew headlines of his own after he was prosecuted for trafficking in protected turtles. Prosecutors alleged he made more than $500,000 over six years selling diamondback terrapins online, running afoul of state and federal conservation laws. Sommers was handed a six-month prison sentence in 2019, along with six months of house arrest and a $250,000 fine.
- Sommers opened a more recent chapter as a Patch contributor, posting eight articles dating back to late February. They all attack Harvie, slamming him for being “divisive,” “arrogant” and a “hack.” They feature messaging consistent with the Fitzpatrick campaign, including an Aug. 27 post which accuses Harvie of wanting “more data centers in Bucks County.”
- Harvie in a statement called Fitzpatrick “a complete and total fraud” and said he’s growing “desperate.”
- “Brian Fitzpatrick is worse than the rest of the Washington swamp because he pretends to be different, but the receipts show he is corrupt to the core,” he said.
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