McClintock campaign says Brown mailer photos are stolen

State Sen. Tom McClintock's congressional campaign said opponent Charlie Brown's new campaign mail piece uses media photos without the media outlets' permission.

The campaign for McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) said Brown's mailer features photos of McClintock taken by the Sacramento Bee and The Associated Press without permission from those media outlets.

"Hypocritical Charlie Brown is fond of reciting the Air Force Code and lecturing others to follow its admonition that ‘I will not lie, cheat or steal nor tolerate those who do,'" McClintock campaign spokesman Bill  George said in a press release.

That stance contrasts with what's in his campaign piece, George said in the release.

George said he's confirmed with both the Bee and AP that Brown's campaign did not ask for or receive permission to run the photos.

Todd Stenhouse, Brown's campaign manager, said the charges are "just silly."

"All those photos are publicly available on the Internet, and Tom McClintock is a public figure," Stenhouse said. "It's called fair use."

He questioned why McClintock, who moved from Southern California to the 4th Congressional District that he and Brown, a Roseville Democrat, seek to represent, wouldn't want his face before voters.

"Why won't he talk about the issues, such as about why he tried to deny health care coverage for millions of California residents with pre-existing conditions?" Stenhouse said. "Tom McClintock doesn't want to talk about those issues because he's part of the problem."

Stenhouse said that neither the Bee nor AP had contacted the campaign to say the photos were being used improperly.

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