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Baton Rouge judge says she takes 'full accountability' for false campaign advertising
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NEW ORLEANS — A Baton Rouge judge said at a disciplinary hearing Thursday that she takes "full responsibility" for 2020 campaign advertisements that exaggerated her military experience.
"I could have done better. I should have done better. Now, I know better," Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts said in testimony before a hearing officer for the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana. The panel is looking into whether dishonest advertising helped her win a spot on the 19th Judicial District bench.
An advertisement in the Central City News said the judge had 13 years' experience — as an enlisted soldier and a commissioned officer for the Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. It was based on an advertisement which was posted a month before publication on Foxworth-Roberts' social media.
This was posted Jan. 5, 2020 under a #Foxworth4Judge Instagram story on @judgetiffanyfoxworth account
"Served our country for 13 years in the U.S. Army, both as an enlisted soldier and Commissioned Officer during Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan wars"
This advertisement ran in the Central City News in Feb. 2020
It was made by the newspaper staff based upon other advertisements made by Foxworth-Roberts
The newspaper's publisher, former state lawmaker Woody Jenkins, had testified earlier that he produced the advertising but never had the judge check them. In testimony Thursday, Foxworth-Roberts said the error was her fault.
"Is that an excuse? No, it's not," the judge said. "I take full accountability."
In an interview with WBRZ in June, Jenkins had said his office prepared the advertising.
"She didn't have time to work it up, would we prepare the ad for her," Jenkins said. "I don't know if she ever saw it. It wasn't one ad we probably did five or six. But if there's any mistakes in there I'm responsible, not her. She just said 'Hey, do an ad for my campaign'," Jenkins said.
Foxworth-Roberts has appeared before the panel before. She previously was found by an oversight committee to have wrongly implied to voters in 2020 that she was already a judge seeking re-election.
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