Go back to Special Report front pageSAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 5 -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Huffington, who has branded American tobacco subsidies as "unconscionable," knowingly profited from a South American cigarette advertising campaign, The Free Press has learned.
A spokeswoman for Huffington's campaign has confirmed that Crest Films Ltd., a Santa Monica-based company whose major shareholder is Huffington, did sell sports footage to a firm that was producing a cigarette ad in Brazil.
But the spokeswoman, Jennifer Grossman, said Huffington's company "had no control" over how the film was used. Nonetheless, Grossman did not dispute that the first-term Santa Barbara congressman knew in advance about the use of the footage for the cigarette ad.
itions contradictedking pos Such an admission might hardly be worth much attention, except for the fact that Huffington has championed anti-smoking efforts here at home in the United States.
Not only did he institute a smoking ban at his family-held oil company headquarters in Texas, but also last year, he introduced legislation in Congress to do away with tobacco subsidies. Huffington's legislation, entitled "Tobacco Ashes -- Life-Saving Legislation," was billed not only as a means of saving taxpayers money, but also as an important step in preventing smoking-related deaths.
In fact, Huffington described his legislation as an "act of conscience." In a statement in the Congressional Record, Huffington said, "By subsidizing tobacco advertising, we entice others, even our children, to smoke -- knowing it may take their lives. This is unconscionable."
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