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."
Related offer:
"Unfit for
Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry"
Related stories:
Kerry
Silver Star report backs critics
Kerry
Navy probe to expand scope?
Kerry
medal complaint reaches Navy secretary
1996:
Kerry judged false decorations 'very wrong'
Admiral
comes forward to dispute Kerry medal
Questions
swirl around Kerry's Silver Star
Kerry
backs off on medal claim
Kerry's
'fraudulent' report basis for military records
Kerry's
war journal contradicts medal claim?
John
Kerry's 'self-inflicted' Purple Heart, Bronze Star
Book:
Kerry took no enemy fire for medal
Vets:
Kerry lied to get Silver Star
Art Moore is a news editor with
WorldNetDaily.com.
