Rep. Maycumber threatens legal action against Loren Culp amid social media tirade
Apr 16, 2024, 5:07 PM
Then-Republican gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp smiles while greeting supporters as he arrives at a rally on Aug. 29, 2020, in Mount Vernon, Washington. (File photo: Elaine Thompson, AP)
(File photo: Elaine Thompson, AP)
Washington State Republican Rep. Jacquelin Maycumber, R-Republic, has threatened legal action against Klickitat County Chief Jail Deputy, Republican Loren Culp. On Tuesday, Maycumber’s office announced it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Culp after his barrage of social media posts, including deepfakes. (A PDF of the letter can be viewed here.)
“Loren Culp has obsessed over my candidacy for Congress. He knowingly promoted false deepfake tweets. He pretends to defend election integrity but knowingly promotes material designed to influence the election for another candidate. He needs to issue a retraction on the electronic impersonation ‘deepfake’ tweets. If he fails to do so we will take legal action,” Maycumber said in a statement.
The letter demands Culp remove all posts that include or reference deepfake posts on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter. It also demands Culp inform his followers the post is not from Maycumber’s social media account.
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According to the letter, on March 7, Culp posted over a dozen times across social media incorrectly claiming that Maycumber used Twitter to encourage Republicans to vote for Joe Biden, on Oct. 21, 2020.
“Enough is enough. Please vote blue this November. With our President’s ignorance when it comes to lockdowns, racial justice and women’s issues, we cannot allow Donald Trump to have a second term #RepublicansforBiden” reads the “fake tweet.”
“The image used in your posts of an alleged ‘Tweet’ by Ms. Maycumber is a complete fabrication,” states the letter.
You can NOT be serious. pic.twitter.com/mTpjIr0LI6
— Amber Krabach (@AK4WA) March 8, 2024
Maycumber’s lawyers said Maycumber has never supported Biden or encouraged anyone to vote for him. They also said the posts are “defamatory” and “cast Ms. Maycumber in a false light,” saying the posts could affect her run for U.S. Congress.
Loren Culp called out in the past for social media posts
Culp has come under fire before. Earlier this month, multiple area media outlets, including FOX 13 Seattle, reported his membership in The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) is on the line because of his social media posts.
FOX 13 said the WASPC Executive Board called Culp out in a letter on April 3 for his “numerous offensive” posts, including one where he called Maycumber a “female dog” and called Washington State Rep. Travis Couture a b—-.
Culp then doubled down after the letter, saying “Politics politics politics. Seems I’m always under attack these days,” along with other expletives, in a post on X on April 3.
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In 2020, Culp ran against Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, saying in an interview with the Seattle Times, “I am not anti government. I am anti big government. They need to stay in their lane and mind their business.” Inslee garnered around 60% of the vote in the election.
According to the cease-and-desist letter from Maycumber, Culp has until April 18 to remove the posts and tell his followers they were fake.
If he does not Maycumber’s lawyers said they “will take whatever legal action is necessary to protect our client’s rights. This may include seeking any injunctive and declaratory relief, and/or the monetary damages available under Washington law,” states the letter.
Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email her here.
