(Radio Iowa) – An Associated Press investigation has found a group called the Patriots Run Project tried to recruit candidates to run as independents in two of Iowa’s competitive congressional districts. Congressman Zach Nunn — the Republican in Iowa’s third district — says he’s outraged to see anyone prey on hardworking Iowans or try to deceive voters. The man from Scranton who was recruited to run against Nunn told the Associated Press he withdrew his name from the ballot after determining his candidacy was intended as a dirty political trick.

The group failed to collect enough petition signatures for a woman it recruited to run against Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the first district. Iowa Republican Party chair Jeff Kaufmann says it’s truly despicable that this Democrat-backed group knowingly took advantage of disabled or retired Trump supporters to try to cheat and pull votes away from Republicans.

The Associated Press reports the Patriots Run Project recruited candidates in run for congress in four other states. According ot the A-P, the group is not registered as a business, a non-profit or a political action committee in the United States and the group’s website lists a Post Office Box in Washington, D.C. as its address. Meta took down the group’s Facebook page a few weeks ago and the group’s website cannot be found in a Google search.