Attorney General Raúl Labrador responded on Apr. 16 to political advertisements that he said misrepresent his office and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit.
The issue centers on claims made by a group called ‘Idaho Values First,’ which has aired ads alleging certain legislators voted against funding for the ICAC Unit. Labrador said these claims are misleading and not accurate.
According to Labrador, during the 2026 legislative session, Idaho’s Legislature implemented across-the-board budget cuts affecting all state agencies. Later, a partial restoration of the Attorney General’s budget was approved, which included resources for the ICAC Unit. “A political organization calling itself ‘Idaho Values First’ is running ads that falsely claim certain legislators voted against funding for my office’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit. That claim is misleading and flatly untrue,” Labrador said.
He explained that the referenced vote was an overall 5% cut applied to every agency, not a specific reduction targeting his office or its child protection efforts. “HB971 was the budget enhancement bill that partially restored my office’s funding, including all resources that support the ICAC Unit. The legislators these ads attack voted for the enhancement bill,” he said.
Labrador criticized what he described as manipulation of voters through inaccurate messaging: “Using legislative votes in political messaging is fair. Twisting those votes into false narratives is not. And dragging the work of my office and the mission of protecting children into a knowingly dishonest attack is a new low.” He added praise for his investigators: “My ICAC investigators do difficult, often heartbreaking work to protect children from online predators. Idaho families deserve honesty and transparency, not cynical attacks that exploit the real work being done to keep children safe.”
