U.S. Congressman-elect Doug LaMalfa’s former chief of staff issued a formal apology for creating a website that contained misinformation about Penn Valley resident Sam Aanestad, who ran against LaMalfa unsuccessfully during the primary. Around April 18, a website with the address Sam4Congress.com was created. The website called into question Aanestad’s credentials as an oral surgeon and made “false and defamatory” statements about his character, according to a defamation lawsuit filed May 8 in Nevada County Superior Court by Barry Pruett, Aanestad’s attorney. The website was attributed to Michael D’Acquisto, another candidate in the Republican primary race, which LaMalfa eventually won. …