In August 2022, Laughlin sued the chair of the Erie CountyDemocratic Party, Jim Wertz, as well as the alternative newspaper the Erie Reader, after the Reader published an op-ed written by Wertz which claimed Laughlin was on a presidential pardon request list for those involved in attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election. In the op-ed, Wertz referenced a letter by Congressman Mo Brooks, which said the Congressman had asked then-President Donald Trump for pardons for those who signed "the" amicus brief in the case Texas v. Pennsylvania, which sought to overturn Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election. Wertz also accused Congressman Mike Kelly of being on the same "pardon request list" as Laughlin. In Texas, Kelly and Laughlin signed separate briefs. The brief Laughlin signed stated the signatories were not supporting the plaintiff nor defendant. Laughlin's lawsuit also contended there was never an actual "pardon request list."[2] The lawsuit would reveal private communications where Laughlin referred to legal efforts to alter the election result as "crap." He also blamed Kelly for "hurting" the Republican Party by supporting such efforts.[3] The incurred court costs led to the bankruptcy of the Reader.[4]
In June 2024, the Reader sued McLaughlin and his wife, Peggy, accusing the couple of removing hundreds of free copies of the publication from public locations.[5] His wife admitted to removing papers to "prevent maybe somebody from reading all of the ridiculous, unjustified, completely dishonest, unprovoked attacks on my husband." The Reader's suit was dismissed in August.[4]
Political positions
Laughlin was the first Pennsylvania Republican to endorse the legalization of adult-use cannabis in Pennsylvania.[6] In 2021, Laughlin and State Senator Sharif Street sponsored a bill to legalize cannabis use for individuals over the age of twenty-one. He and Street had previously sponsored a similar bill in 2019.[7] Laughlin said his support for such a bill came from concern for Pennsylvanians consuming unregulated cannabis from out of state.[8]
Laughlin voted for House Bill 1024 in the 2020-2021 legislative session, which permitted medical marijuana companies to remediate product and use additional pesticides among other provisions, but voted against the home grow amendment, Amendment No. A-2029, introduced by Senator Shariff Street in association with House Bill 1024.[9][10] Since that vote, Laughlin introduced Senate Bill 869 to permit registered medical patients to grow up to six plants, similar to the amendment he previously voted against in connection with House Bill 1024.[11] There has not been any vote or action on Senate Bill 869, although the Pennsylvania Senate held a committee vote on three other cannabis bills intended to benefit the existing medical marijuana companies that operate in Pennsylvania.[12]
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