A judge in Las Vegas has pulled a doctored photo of her and The Rock that she used to promote her re-election campaign. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Municipal Judge Heidi Almase removed the photo from her Facebook page, which showed her and the actor/wrestler posing together. The image had been Photoshopped and appeared to suggest that Rock was endorsing her with a tagline, “It just makes sense: Re-Elect Judge Heidi Almase.”
Almase had appeared to confirm an endorsement; when a Facebook user said “Wow, you got the Rock to support Judge Heidi?” she replied, “I’m ‘almost’ taller than him. Almost.” Her campaign manager Jennifer Barrier said she’s close family friends with Rock but acknowledged she didn’t have authorization to post the picture and took it down after a reporter contacted her.
“It was never an endorsement,” Barrier said. “There’s no quotation marks. It’s not an endorsement.”
The campaign manager for Almase’s opponent Chief Deputy District Attorney Cara Campbell, Tom Letizia, said the post was a “fraud” and added, “It’s deceitful, dishonest, and disingenuous. Laws are made for a reason and if our own judges aren’t following the laws, how can the public trust them or their integrity on the bench?”
You can see the original picture at the link provided above.