TRUTH TEST: TV ad attacking Teirab gets an “F”

Republican Joe Teirab is making his experience as a criminal defense attorney the centerpiece of his campaign in Minnesota's 2nd district^nd Congressional district.

Democratic incumbent Angie Craig's campaign disputes this in a new ad attacking Teirab as soft on crime, particularly drug offenders and child molesters.

“We are facing a fentanyl epidemic,” says a man named “Tom” from Hastings, MN. “I know because I lost my son because of it. It burns me when a weak prosecutor like Joe Teirab lets a convicted criminal get away with it. And he’s back on the streets selling his poison…and then the same person gets arrested again for selling fentanyl.”

True, the man's son died after buying a counterfeit pill online and died of fentanyl poisoning in 2020.

The complaint leaves the impression that Teirab was the prosecutor in the case involving the man who sold the counterfeit drug that led to his son's death. That's not true.

What is true is that in another case involving Teirab, quoted in the complaint in a news story on the Southern Minnesota News website, a man accepted a deal to testify against one of the leaders of a drug ring.

According to Teirab, the drug ring leader was convicted largely based on the other man's testimony and sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Teirab served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Minnesota from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as an assistant district attorney in Nicollet County from 2017 to 2019. During that time, Teirab was involved in negotiating plea agreements with people accused of child abuse, according to the Craig campaign. The ad does not give any examples.

The Craig campaign sent out the following document Monday evening with more context on the claims made in the ad.

Because this ad contains so much misleading, out of context, and missing information, it receives an “F” on 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS’ Truth Test.

Check out the Truth Test archives HERE.

How KSTP evaluates political advertising in the truth test

• An “A” requires near complete accuracy with little exaggeration and little to no need for more context.
• AWAY” requires accurate information for the most part, but is downgraded for minor exaggerations or misleading information.
• A “C” may be the result of inaccurate or exaggerated information that is misleading or does not provide context to the viewer.
• A “D” is due to the fact that at least half of the information is false or misleading and leaves a false impression.
• An “F” is due to the fact that more than half of the information is completely false, misleading or taken out of context.