Virginia Elections 2013: New GOP Ad Attacks Terry McAuliffe Over Federal Investigation

Republicans released an ad Sunday attacking Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe over a federal investigation into his eco-friendly former car company, GreenTech, and a sister firm.

The ad, paid for by the Republican Governors Association, accuses McAuliffe of trying to hide the facts about his business background and investment practices with the car company.

• Read: Car Company linked to Terry McAuliffe Under SEC Investigation

Titled “Shift,” the ad chides McAuliffe for going on the offensive against his opponent, Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, while his own controversy brews.

“He’s desperate to shift attention away from the news about this federal investigation…A possible “visa-for-sale scheme,” with the Chinese financing McAuliffe’s own business,” the narrator says in the 30-second spot.

News broke this weekend that GreenTech, the electric car company that McAuliffe helped found and chaired until December 2012, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for “guarantee[ing] returns” to investors.

• Read: Republicans Call on Terry McAuliffe to Come Clean

The feds are specifically looking at how GreenTech and Gulf Coast Funds Management, the car company’s sister financial firm, got Chinese investors to participate in the EB-5 visa program, which gives foreigners visas in exchange for investments in American companies.

“Terry McAuliffe, you just can’t trust him,” the ad concludes.

The RGA’s spot is one of many ads from both campaigns attacking the other side’s trustworthiness.

McAuliffe and Democratic supporters have launched their own attacks against Cuccinelli for his connections to Jonnie Williams, the Star Scientific executive at the center of an ethics investigation into Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Documents show that Williams gave Cuccinelli about $18,000 in gifts as well. Democrats have called on the Attorney General to return the gifts, and are calling his refusal to do so an example of why he can’t be trusted either.