CONTRARIANCOMMENTARY.COM
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Anthony R. Martin, J. D.
Executive Editor
June 16, 2010
Hon. Gordon S. Heddell
Department of Defense
Office of Inspector General
400 Army Navy Drive
Arlington, VA 22202-4704
via fax (703) 604-8567
Vice Admiral James W. Houck
Judge Advocate General
1322 Patterson Ave., Suite 3000
Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5066
via fax (703) 697-4610
Re: Violations of law by U. S. Navy Cdr. Mark Kirk and
other DOD/Navy personnel
Dear IG Heddell and
Admiral Houck:
I am writing to request an investigation of Mark Kirk by your offices and, if necessary, prosecution and disciplinary action against Mr. Kirk.
For the past decade Mark Kirk has been using the U. S. Navy as a political prop. (I have examples of his literature, and you can find them cached on the Internet.) He has used all of his “deployments” (as he calls them) to pose for pictures in Navy flight suits and flack jackets, which then appear on his political websites. Among his many media lies, he told the Chicago Sun-Times he was fired on by enemy forces while attached to a Dutch unit. He has claimed to have “fought in two wars.” He has claimed to have “deployed” to Afghanistan in 2008 and again in 2009, and after returning he has given “reports” to people who were invited to hear him because of his status as a political candidate, most recently at the Union League Club in Chicago in January.
Kirk has also “tweeted” from the Pentagon, claimed to be running an intelligence operation at the Pentagon and claimed to have won awards/medals that are nonexistent or exaggerated.
Although the media have not yet begun to investigate Kirk’s claim that he was “detailed” to the CIA, I have filed new FOIA requests to verify his “CIA” claims. Please ensure that these FOIA requests are not obstructed or nullified by any ongoing cover-up or corruption.
During the entire period of Kirk’s shenanigans the Navy did nothing to shut down his misbehavior.
Last year I filed Freedom of Information (“FOIA”) requests against Kirk with DOD, USN, USAF, USMC. The Navy provided a single sheet of paper in response. The Air Force refused to disclose if Kirk had traveled on congressional passes to Afghanistan and provided nothing. There was a complete stonewall, and a complete cover-up, from, end to end.
Earlier this week comments apparently originating in the OASD (PA) indicated Kirk had been warned in 2009 about engaging in politics on Navy time. Kirk has denied those accusations and admonitions. His brazenness is unlimited. As such, his lack of an apology makes him an unrepentant sham and thief of Navy valor. When someone refuses to apologize for breaking the law, the law must take even sterner and stronger steps to prosecute such an individual.
Your offices must investigate how the uniformed services, especially the Navy, and DOD were all conned by this military mountebank, and how and why a stonewall of silence was imposed when I sought to access Kirk’s records pursuant to FOIA. The very purpose of the FOIA statute was corrupted and perverted to shield Kirk. Why? Why is DOD violating FOIA when President Obama has asked for more disclosure, not less?
Kirk’s travel accommodations and records, for example, were hardly secret or privileged. The Pentagon has offices which routinely engage in congressional liaison and keep records of their contacts and actions with senators and representatives. Why were those records not turned over to me under FOIA? There was corruption, and there was a cover-up.
I would like those records now.
Was it because of fear of congressional retaliation by Kirk, or fear of embarrassment to the Navy that triggered the cover-up/stonewall? Your offices need to find out. Why was only one sheet of FOIA paper was provided in 2009? The Department of Defense was utterly and completely compromised and corrupted.
Kirk should be drummed out of the service for his egregious misconduct spanning at least a decade.
Kirk also appears to have corrupted the “efficiency report” process. Kirk’s defense this week to allegations that he was admonished is that there is nothing to confirm those admonishments in his ER’s. Why not? Did his reviewing officers know he had been admonished in preparing his ER’s? Or was ER fraud a small part of the larger overall cover-up? You need to find out.
I question whether military officers should be preparing ER’s on senators and representatives. The conflict of interest is obvious and unavoidable. Maybe we also need legislation.
I am sure your offices have experienced prosecutors and investigators. You know where you have to go to look into Kirk's antics, and you know why. Kirk has stained the Navy, stained DOD and embarrassed the entire Pentagon, all in a time of war when brave men and women are in harm's way every day.
Kirk is perhaps the greatest military imposter since Senator Joe McCarthy who campaigned for office as “Tail Gunner Joe” even though he never had been a “tail gunner.” McCarthy was a complete fraud, and so is Mark Kirk.
It has never been my privilege to serve on active duty in uniform. But I have been alongside men who have. I have seen them die. I know the risks men and women take every day. I know how lives are endangered and lost. The idea that a congressional clown could appropriate the valor of our heroes for his own crass political prospects is sickening.
You need to act decisively not only because Kirk broke the law and should be prosecuted, but as a warning to other thieves and frauds who engage in similar misconduct. Hang Kirk out as an example to others who may be tempted to engage in stolen valor and military fraud. And do so decisively and promptly.
I am happy to meet with you in Washington or Arlington if my presence will be of any assistance. My worldwide audience and the American people are waiting for your response.
Respectfully submitted,
ANDY MARTIN
CCC.AM:sp
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CONTRARIANCOMMENTARY.COM
Independent Worldwide News and Opinion
New York-London-Washington-Chicago-San Francisco-Palm Beach
"The Internet Powerhouse"
Headquarters mail:
Post Office Box 1851
New York, NY 10150-1851
Tel. (866) 706-2639
Fax (866) 707-2639
Web: ContrarianCommentary.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Anthony R. Martin, J. D.
Executive Editor
June 16, 2010
Major April Cunningham
OASD (PA)
The Pentagon
Washington, DC
via fax (703) 697-3501
FOIA REQUEST RE CONGRESSMAN/USN MARK KIRK
Dear Major Cunningham:
As you are probably aware, remarks you made to one of my fellow bloggers about Navy officer Mark Kirk have been widely carried by the Associated Press as well as other bloggers.
This letter is a two-part request: first, I would like copies of any materials in your office, OASD (PA), on which your statements to nitpicker.blogspot.com were based. Second, pursuant to FOIA I would like to request all of Mark Kirk’s DOD records within the Navy, Air Force, USMC and elsewhere. All of these records are obviously subject to the FOIA jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense.
Indeed, in view of the growing congressional and political scandal over Mr. Kirk’s unlawful behavior, I believe Secretary Gates himself should be involved in ordering a “clean breast” and full disclosure of all of Kirk’s files. There has obviously been a cover-up in the past.
My contemporaneous complaint to the DOD IG and USN JAG are self-explanatory.
1. FOIA release of the documents on which your remarks to nitpicker.blogspot.com was based
When you apparently spoke to nitpicker.blogspot.com, I assume (i) you were authorized to do so and (ii) you based your own comments on documents in your possession. Pursuant to FOIA I would like to request copies of all of the Kirk documents on which your nitpicker comments were based, or any other Kirk records in the possession of OASD (PA). At a minimum, if you discussed documents, or if your discussion was based on Kirk documents, there was a FOIA waiver as to any materials which you used in your public dissemination.
2. General Mark Kirk FOIA request - renewed
Lat year, I submitted detailed FOIA requests to DOD, USN, USMC and USAF. Except for one page from USN, I was unlawfully stonewalled. Since then the controversy has exploded. The time for stonewalling is obviously over. Due to the national scandal over Kirk’s misbehavior, the OASD (PA) is obviously the place to coordinate release of FOIA materials.
I am therefore renewing my 2009 and 2010 FOIA requests through this letter.
I filed a FOIA request earlier this month renewing my 2009 requests, as well as a new FOIA request for any of what Mark Kirk claims are his “detailed to the CIA” materials if any exist (Kirk claims the Navy “detailed him to the CIA”).
The Kirk Pentagon fraud and cover-up scandal has become the most egregious example of military fraud in over a half century. The public’s interest in full disclosure now completely overrides any privacy interests which Kirk may have had. He has been exposed as a liar and fraud. The cover-up, and Kirk’s use of military secrecy to defraud the public, must end.
Pursuant to FOIA I am formally and legally requesting, and I would like DOD, USN, USAF to release, any and all records in their possession concerning Mr. Kirk or, in the alternative, to prepare and provide a detailed and explicit “Vaughn Index” for any information which is not disclosed.
For example (1), there have to be records on how Mr. Kirk got to Afghanistan in December, 2009 and again 2009. Did he travel on a USAF congressional plane? Navy plane? There is no basis on which to conceal these records any longer. They are absolutely subject to full FOIA disclosure.
For example (2), were there prior complaints about Kirk? When and where? Were there admonishments, or internal memos within DOD? We need full disclosure and documentation of any discussions of Kirk’s politically suspect behavior. Information concerning violations of laws and regulations is not subject to secrecy under any interpretation of FOIA.
Full disclosure is particularly important because earlier this week, in response to your own disclosures, Kirk denied he had been admonished and said his ER’s were “clean.” Why were his ER’s clean? Is there is a major military/congressional scandal here? I think so. Was the Navy “scrubbing” Kirk’s files because he was a congressman? Because of fear of retaliation? For example (3), a Navy officer “tipped off” Kirk when media filed earlier FOIAs. Is that type of “head’s up” usual under FOIA, or just a “congressional privilege?” Was there a memo on the head’s up? Please turn it over.
You full cooperation, and the full cooperation of DOD and Secretary Gates, will be sincerely appreciated. I only want the truth and the facts about Mark Kirk. Nothing less, and nothing more.
Respectfully submitted,
ANDY MARTIN
CCC:AM:sp
