Former Florida House Rep. and Republican candidate for Florida’s 14th Congressional District (FL CD 14) Mike Beltran recently called out Conservative Solutions for America PAC for continuing to defame him.
Beltran recently obtained a temporary restraining order against the PAC for falsely depicting Beltran as using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to back challenger and former colleague Kevin Steele.
According to Beltran, the Kevin Steele-funded PAC has continued to make false claims against him, alleging that Beltran previously voted to raise taxes and against a budget that would have cut taxes during his time in the Florida House.
Beltran affirmed that he voted against the House’s 2024 $117 billion proposed budget because the increase “was not justified and did a poor job of cutting taxes overall.”
In response to the PAC’s claim that Beltran voted in favor of higher taxes via 2021 Senate Bill 50, Beltran stated that “the bill did not increase taxes, but rather required the collection of existing taxes which were not being paid.”
PAC Used Generative-AI To Defame Beltran
Beltran’s announcement comes a few days after a circuit judge issued a preliminary injunction against the PAC for digitally manipulating an image to defame him.
According to court documents, Judge Christine A. Marlewski of Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit issued the order after the PAC was found to have “distributed text messages and printed mailers containing an image depicting… Beltran holding a ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ sign.”
The image was reportedly “created in whole or in part with generative artificial intelligence or equivalent synthetic means.”
House Bill Did Not Raise Taxes; It Cracked Down On Evaded Taxes
An analysis of the companion House Bill to 2021 SB 50 indicates that the legislation sought to “prevent substantial increases in reemployment assistance taxes facing most Florida businesses under current law.”
The bill also aimed to address the competitive disadvantages Florida businesses faced compared with out-of-state online retailers that do not collect sales tax on sales they make within the state.
