Thursday, February 03, 2005
Judicial Watch on Kerry and Chertoff
From the Desk of Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton:
Dear Friends and Supporters:
I sent a letter to Sen. John F. Kerry asking him to keep his word to the American public and sign a federal form authorizing the release of all of his military records. On Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005, during an appearance on the NBC News show "Meet the Press," moderator Tim Russert three times asked Sen. Kerry if he would sign an SF 180 allowing release of all of his military records. On the third attempt Sen. Kerry answered Mr. Russert plainly: "Yes, I will." [Click here to read a transcript of the "Meet the Press" show.] In a Feb. 2 letter hand delivered to Sen. Kerry's Capitol Hill office, I asked him to execute the SF 180 immediately and thereby put to rest the controversies surrounding his service as a U.S. Navy officer. [Click here to read the letter.]
Judicial Watch requested Aug. 2, 2004, release of Sen. Kerry's military service records under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Navy Personnel Command withheld 31 pages of documents because Sen. Kerry refused to sign an SF 180. The records pertained to: "Personnel service jackets and service records; and correspondence and records in both automated and non-automated form concerning classification, assignment, distribution, promotion, advancement, performance, recruiting, retention, reenlistment, separation, training, education, morale, personal affairs, benefits, entitlements, discipline and administration of naval personnel." Sen. Kerry has yet to come clean with the American people. We hope he will finally keep his promise to release his military records.
Judge Michael Chertoff, who is the nominee for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has had a distinguished career, serving as a U.S. attorney for New Jersey, assistant U.S. attorney general and, now, judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Despite that resume, we have some concerns about his fitness for office. We sent a letter Tuesday to Sens. Susan Collins and Joe Lieberman, the chairman and ranking minority member, respectively, of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, raising several questions about Judge Chertoff's role with a government operative who has connections to our client Peter Paul. We have asked the committee to investigate this matter before confirming Judge Chertoff. [Click here to read the letter.] In 2001, Judicial Watch and Peter Paul provided information to Judge Chertoff in his capacity as head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division about criminal activities of Stanley Myatt, a confidential government informant. (At that same time, we told Judge Chertoff of the Clintons' campaign finance irregularities related to the Hollywood tribute that Peter produced and underwrote.) Also, Mr. Myatt may have worked on behalf of the New Jersey U.S. attorney's office while Judge Chertoff was there. This is a serious matter. Mr. Myatt threatened Peter's life when he found out about his and our meeting with Judge Chertoff. But to our knowledge, the Justice Department did - and has done - nothing about Mr. Myatt. We hope the homeland security committee won't be as lax when it comes to looking into Judge Chertoff's background, but we are not encouraged. The committee has yet to contact us about Judge Chertoff.
A reminder to join Judicial Watch Director of Investigations and Research Chris Farrell Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. in our "Full Disclosure" Internet chat room to discuss topical issues of the day. Just click on the "Full Disclosure" link on the Judicial Watch Internet site at www.judicialwatch.org.
Tom FittonPresident
Dear Friends and Supporters:
I sent a letter to Sen. John F. Kerry asking him to keep his word to the American public and sign a federal form authorizing the release of all of his military records. On Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005, during an appearance on the NBC News show "Meet the Press," moderator Tim Russert three times asked Sen. Kerry if he would sign an SF 180 allowing release of all of his military records. On the third attempt Sen. Kerry answered Mr. Russert plainly: "Yes, I will." [Click here to read a transcript of the "Meet the Press" show.] In a Feb. 2 letter hand delivered to Sen. Kerry's Capitol Hill office, I asked him to execute the SF 180 immediately and thereby put to rest the controversies surrounding his service as a U.S. Navy officer. [Click here to read the letter.]
Judicial Watch requested Aug. 2, 2004, release of Sen. Kerry's military service records under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Navy Personnel Command withheld 31 pages of documents because Sen. Kerry refused to sign an SF 180. The records pertained to: "Personnel service jackets and service records; and correspondence and records in both automated and non-automated form concerning classification, assignment, distribution, promotion, advancement, performance, recruiting, retention, reenlistment, separation, training, education, morale, personal affairs, benefits, entitlements, discipline and administration of naval personnel." Sen. Kerry has yet to come clean with the American people. We hope he will finally keep his promise to release his military records.
Judge Michael Chertoff, who is the nominee for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has had a distinguished career, serving as a U.S. attorney for New Jersey, assistant U.S. attorney general and, now, judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Despite that resume, we have some concerns about his fitness for office. We sent a letter Tuesday to Sens. Susan Collins and Joe Lieberman, the chairman and ranking minority member, respectively, of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, raising several questions about Judge Chertoff's role with a government operative who has connections to our client Peter Paul. We have asked the committee to investigate this matter before confirming Judge Chertoff. [Click here to read the letter.] In 2001, Judicial Watch and Peter Paul provided information to Judge Chertoff in his capacity as head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division about criminal activities of Stanley Myatt, a confidential government informant. (At that same time, we told Judge Chertoff of the Clintons' campaign finance irregularities related to the Hollywood tribute that Peter produced and underwrote.) Also, Mr. Myatt may have worked on behalf of the New Jersey U.S. attorney's office while Judge Chertoff was there. This is a serious matter. Mr. Myatt threatened Peter's life when he found out about his and our meeting with Judge Chertoff. But to our knowledge, the Justice Department did - and has done - nothing about Mr. Myatt. We hope the homeland security committee won't be as lax when it comes to looking into Judge Chertoff's background, but we are not encouraged. The committee has yet to contact us about Judge Chertoff.
A reminder to join Judicial Watch Director of Investigations and Research Chris Farrell Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. in our "Full Disclosure" Internet chat room to discuss topical issues of the day. Just click on the "Full Disclosure" link on the Judicial Watch Internet site at www.judicialwatch.org.
Tom FittonPresident
