The group suing the City of Pittsburgh and Mayor Bill Peduto to keep the statue of Christopher Columbus in place now alleges that the art commission’s vote to remove it is invalid because the mayor attempted to influence that vote. But the allegation seems to rest on a mischaracterized email from an art commissioner.

Attorneys for the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) filed the amended complaint in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Nov. 11. The ISDA first brought suit more than a year ago, after the art commission voted unanimously to remove the towering Columbus monument, in Schenley Park. A judge granted an ISDA request for an injunction to halt its removal, so it has remained standing but shrouded in plastic sheeting.