Posted on 09/23/2004 6:06:45 PM PDT by LOSERLIBERALS
MISSION: IMPLAUSIBLE Navy dismissal of Kerry probe appealed Ignored Lehman's insistence he didn't sign Silver Star citation
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 23, 2004 2:05 p.m. Eastern
By Art Moore © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Judicial Watch is appealing the U.S. Navy secretary's unwillingness to probe allegations of fraud thoroughly in the awarding of John Kerry's war medals, charging that the limited examination dismissed obvious evidence and that the senator's presidential campaign was tipped off.
Chris Farrell, Judicial Watch's director of investigations and research, told WorldNetDaily if the Navy does not respond within the required 10 days to a Freedom of Information Act request for documentation to back its decision, a lawsuit will follow.
"We are not at all shy about going to court over FOIA matters," said Farrell. "So if they don't comply with the law, we will sue them; it's that simple."
Judicial Watch filed the initial complaint Aug. 18 after news reports revealed Kerry's campaign website displays a document listing a "Silver Star with combat 'V'" even though the combat "V" device, for valor, is never given with the nation's third highest award for heroism.
One of the most glaring problems with the Navy's brief examination, Farrell contended, is its unwillingness to probe the unorthodox issuance of three citations for Kerry's Silver Star award. The third, issued more than a decade after the event, bears the signature of former Navy Secretary John Lehman, who recently told the Chicago Sun-Times he had nothing to do with it.
'Properly approved'
Last Friday, the Navy's inspector general, Vice Admiral Ronald Route, faxed a letter to Judicial Watch saying Kerry's medals were properly approved.
Farrell told WND a "reliable source" has informed Judicial Watch that the Kerry campaign got a hold of the letter hours before the watchdog group received it at 5:12 p.m.
"It's not clear to us how Kerry's political campaign could become aware of the letter," Farrell said. "It would be highly irregular for a third party that is not involved in the request to be the first to be told of any outcome."
Route said in his letter Friday that the Navy's "examination found that existing documentation regarding the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals indicates the awards approval process was properly followed.
"In particular," Route said, "the senior officers who awarded the medals were properly delegated authority to do so. In addition we found that they correctly followed the procedures in place at the time for approving these awards."
But Judicial Watch says no specific documentary examples were cited or offered as exhibits to Route's letter.
The Navy inspector, Judicial Watch asserts, "dismissed an investigation into the eyewitness accounts -- some sworn -- of officers, sailors and one medical doctor by writing: 'Conducting any additional review regarding events that took place over thirty years ago would not be productive.'"
A leading figure in the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign to expose Kerry's war record, Jerome Corsi, has been assisting Judicial Watch in its case.
Corsi, co-author of the group's New York Times No. 1 best-seller "Unfit for Command," says that whether or not Judicial Watch's request ultimately succeeds, it already has exposed the fact that Kerry has not authorized release of all of his Navy records as he has insisted.
In response to the request, the Navy said it had 31 pages of documents it was not authorized to release under the Freedom of Information Act.
Kerry needs to fill out a Standard Form 180 in order for the records to be released.
Corsi believes the Judicial Watch request could help answer questions raised in the swiftboat vets' book.
"We're trying to determine whether political influence was used by Sen. Kerry to embellish the heroic nature of his exploits," Corsi said. "We think that the three different citations on the Silver Star give reason for suspicion."
Hanoi John commited treason when he was spooning the vietcong in france. He should have been tried long ago.
How do you spell T-R-A-I-T-O-R
I think you got it correct.
I think a more appropriate spelling for traitor would be
K-E-R-R-Y
But I'll bet the Clintonistas did.
Like there's any doubt that it will get slashed?
SIGN THE 180 ...WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?
We need to keep pressure on for Kerry to sign SF180. Bush did it in February. With the press on their heels, they may respond to pressure to be fair about both candidates and their SF180s.
The next SBVT ad also needs to put pressure on Kerry... "Mr. Kerry, what are you hiding?"
Does anyone know anything about this Inspector General? Besides the DA Massacre, where Clinton dumped all the US Attorneys, the IG offices were also one of the biggest purges...only to be filled with CLinton hacks. It would be interesting to know were this guy came from.
Sounds like some Clinton hold over in the Pentagon got a hold of this one...
What happened to the AP FOIA suit over Bush's records. The Pentagon found some documents that weren't where they should have been and released them late... then AP went nuts. Then the Pentagon found a couple more and released them Friday. The Pentagon was supposed to have a final report back to the judge today... does that mean they haven't found any more?
JW is following AP's lead now, and hopefully it will lead to Kerry signing SF180.
Much more useful would be a look at Kerry's post-Nam military file. Why is he hiding it? What is in it that is so terrible, so damning that he is a certified lying hypocrit every time he or McAullife accuese Bush, Cheney or Rove?
The answer is that Kerry was court martialed and thrown out of the Navy under other than honorable conditions for some charge less than treason. That blemish is why he couldn't get into Harvard law. He was pardoned by Carter but still has a shameful TOTAL military record. That is what we should be after, that is what we want to see!
Maybe the swifties will tell us what he's hiding. Methinks Kerry got a bad conduct discharge from the Navy, and maybe later got it changed to "honorable". His meetings with the VC in Paris certainly warrant bad paper. The Swift Boat Veterans keep saying they're saving the best for last, and the later it gets, the harder it is to undo the damage.
And what about the huge FBI file on Kerry from the early 70's? How about an FOIA on that?
I agree. I suspect he got a "General" discharge, and later got it changed. There is an appeal process for that, and there would be records.
Freepers need to start "operation form 180" band together to get some pressure on skerry
The Swiftees haven't used the latest after-action report they got that proves their allegations about the Bronze Star incident. They also indicated they had an even more explosive document that they would base a spot on in the future... hope so, since the only major media exposure they will get will be what they buy.
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