Lawler Says Phony Mailers in NY-17 Were Referred to the FBI

Rep. Mike Lawler said on Tuesday that the Department of Justice has referred bogus campaign mailers in his district to the FBI. Lawler, a Republican running for re-election in New York's 17th Congressional District, held a news conference in Rockland County with House Speaker Mike Johnson standing by his side.

"The Department of Justice has confirmed to my campaign that it has referred the matter to the FBI," Lawler told reporters. His campaign said the same in a statement on Tuesday.

What the mailers said

The mailers claimed to be paid for by a group calling itself the American Forge Coalition. They carried the banner headline Mike Lawler Put Us at Risk and claimed Lawler supported letting criminals escape justice after illegally entering the nation.

Lawler said one mailing misrepresented his position by saying he supported amnesty for 1.3 million undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes. His campaign said the mailing arrived in homes in the district on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24.

"It claimed that I'm for amnesty, which I am not, for criminal illegal immigrants," Lawler said. He says he does not support amnesty and has made support for ICE and opposition to New York sanctuary policies a central part of his record in the lower Hudson Valley.

"Somebody is spending real money in the last weeks of this election lying about my positions on criminal illegal aliens, and they won't say who they are," Lawler said.

No filing on record

The Federal Election Commission shows no filings for the American Forge Coalition, according to the reporting on the mailers. Sending election flyers without registering would be a violation of campaign finance law.

According to its website, as described by Bloomberg Law, the American Forge Coalition indicates support for tariffs on cheap imports and penalties on outsourcing, as well as secure border policies including building a border wall.

Who funds the group is not established in the reporting. Lawler campaign spokesman Ciro Riccardi told Fox News Digital: "This is a shady Democrat dark money scheme using a front group that isn't even registered with the [Federal Election Commission], mailing Republicans at the start of early voting to suppress them from turning out." That is the campaign's allegation, reported here as an allegation.

A Fox News Digital investigation reported the group has sent a flurry of mailers this month accusing vulnerable Republicans of not being conservative enough. It listed the group's targets as Lawler in New York's 17th District, Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania's 1st District, Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin's 3rd District, Marianette Miller-Meeks in Iowa's 1st District, Jen Kiggans in Virginia's 2nd District, and Laurie Buckhout, who is running in North Carolina's 1st District.

A close race in the Hudson Valley

Bloomberg Law described the 17th District as Republicans' most vulnerable district in New York. Lawler faces Democratic challenger Cait Conley in the Nov. 3, 2026 midterms.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day joined Lawler and Johnson at the news conference. Johnson arrived in the district three days after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared with Conley in Peekskill.

In the local report on the news conference, Lawler campaign manager Ciro Riccardi called on Conley to condemn the mailing. No response from Conley was included in the sources checked for this report.