Former state representative Karyn Polito is threatening to sue state Treasurer Steven Grossman for defamation unless he removes from the Internet an old campaign ad about Polito’s control over Red Sox license plates.
Grossman, who defeated Polito in the race for treasurer in 2010, made the video based on Globe stories detailing the way Polito, a Republican from Shrewsbury, had obtained low-number Red Sox plates for herself and numerous friends, relatives, and political supporters.
Polito, whose lawyer had a “cease and desist’’ letter hand-delivered to Grossman’s Newton home March 14, said the video, posted on the campaign’s Facebook page is inaccurate and subjected her to “public hatred, ridicule, and scorn.’’
“Your libelous publication is not protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,’’ wrote her lawyer, Roy A. Bourgeois, who demanded the video be taken down within 48 hours or “we will compel you to do so.’’
Polito, who did not return phone calls from the Globe, will seek monetary damages and lawyer’s fees, he wrote.
Grossman declined to comment on Polito’s letter. The executive director of his campaign committee, Joshua Dawson, called Polito’s assertions “utterly without merit’’ and said they “fly in the face of First Amendment free speech rights.’’
“The fact remains that Polito, her family, and cronies snatched up highly valuable low-number Red Sox license plates that could have been auctioned to raise money for charity, as has been done in other special plates,’’ Dawson said.
The Globe reported in October 2010 that Polito and her associates had received 68 out of the first 100 Red Sox license plates, a special plate created in 2002 to benefit the Jimmy Fund, a charity that raises money for cancer research and treatment. The story said that Polito, who had filed the legislation that led to creation of the Red Sox plates, received license plate number two, and her father, brother, husband, and other relatives all received low-number plates.
Polito and officials at the Jimmy Fund said at the time that the plates were available to anyone who applied and that the numbers were assigned on a first-come, first-served basis after the bill was signed into law Sept. 26, 2002.
But Registry of Motor Vehicles records showed that on the 68 applications, the words “per Kpolito’’ or some variation appeared, suggesting that Polito had a role in their approval.
Grossman created a television ad based on the reporting. It mocked Polito’s own ad, in which she promised to be a watchdog on Beacon Hill, and suggested that she would be more like a lap dog.
But the ad misstated the story by saying that the plates were “supposed to be auctioned off to benefit the Jimmy Fund.’’
In a follow up, the Globe pointed out that the plates given to Polito were never intended to be auctioned. The cancer charity held back only a handful of the plates to be distributed to the highest bidders in August 2003. Number 1 went to actor Ben Affleck for $50,000, while a minority owner of the Red Sox paid $140,000 for Ted Williams’s retired number nine. It was never clear why the Jimmy Fund did not auction off more of the plates, since they became so popular that the Jimmy Fund had to issue a new plate with the letters “JF’’ on them.
In Bourgeois’s letter to Grossman, he incorrectly asserted that the Globe retracted the report.
After the stories were published, the State Ethics Commission launched an investigation into whether Polito may have violated the state’s conflict-of-interest law. The commission requested documents from the Registry for the plate applications submitted by drivers with ties to Polito.
The conflict law prohibits public officials from receiving anything of substantial value because of an official act. It also bars public officials from getting something of value for themselves or others that is not available to the general public.
At the time, Polito insisted that she did nothing wrong and that she solicited friends and relatives to apply to make sure there was sufficient demand. The Registry required 1,500 prepaid commitments before it would manufacture a charity plate.
The Ethics Commission, which has not issued any public reports or statements on the matter and declined to comment Tuesday, faced a six-year statute of limitations. Most of the license plates linked to Polito were issued in 2004 or earlier.
Bourgeois could not be reached for comment.
Andrea Estes can be reached at estes@globe.com.