MAGA Rep’s Petty Revenge Exposed After Embarrassing Report
Taking a leaf out of President Trump’s playbook, Mike Lawler has banned reporters from one publication.
Aaron Schwartz/REUTERS
A MAGA congressman has sidelined all Bloomberg reporters after the title published a report he didn’t like.
Rep. Mike Lawler is seeking his third consecutive two-year term as Representative for New York’s 17th congressional district. But his campaign was rocked when 12 out-of-state canvassers sued on Friday.
They claimed they were paid as little as $1 a door—and abruptly fired after speaking out against discriminatory workplace practices. They say they were promised a healthy base salary, lodging, and transport cost rebates, but didn’t get any of it.

Rep. Mike Lawler is seeking his third consecutive two-year term as Representative for New York’s 17th congressional district.
Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images
Bloomberg reported on the suit on Monday, just hours before New Yorkers headed to the polls.
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In retaliation, Lawler’s campaign has “informed Bloomberg that it is ‘revoking all RSVPs and press credentials for Bloomberg reporters,’” and “the Lawler campaign told Bloomberg any reporter who tries to attend will be ‘treated as a trespasser,’” according to Semafor reporter Max Thani.
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He posted about it on X, and Lawler’s campaign manager hastily replied, adding that Bloomberg could request exemptions from the ban.
“Any requests for an exemption will be answered promptly, after the event, in keeping with Bloomberg’s own standards of professionalism,” Ciro Riccardi said.
Riccardi also attacked Khorri Atkinson, Bloomberg Law’s senior labor and employment reporter, who reported on the suit.
“The most dishonest and unprofessional conduct by any media outlet this cycle reporting on our race,” he moaned, adding that Bloomberg and Atkinson “should be ashamed.”
Lawler, too, was in “Deny! Deny! Deny!” mode. “Democrats spent a week shopping this hoax,” he claimed on X.
He continued: “The people suing never worked for my campaign. We never hired them, never employed them, and never paid them. Every dollar my campaign spends is reported to the FEC, and anyone can check it in two minutes. Bloomberg gave us 20 minutes to respond to a 53-page lawsuit we’d never seen, published before we could answer, and then refused to retract it. Voters see right through it. See you at the polls tomorrow.”
In a press release, the Lawler campaign said the people worked for subcontractors of America PAC, an outside super PAC that federal law bars the campaign from coordinating with.

Democrat Cait Conley is running to flip blue-state Republican Mike Lawler’s outer-suburban New York seat.
Spencer Platt/Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The canvassers alleged in the Manhattan federal lawsuit that the New York Republican’s campaign lured them in with one deal and hit them with another.
They say they were promised weekly pay of $1,200 to $3,000, free lodging, and paid travel through Election Day. However, they claim they were paid as little as a dollar for each door they knocked on, and they were fired after speaking up.
Lawler’s campaign has been contacted for comment.
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