Pentagon explains Kirk politicking on active duty

Pentagon explains Kirk politicking on active duty
by John Chase
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
June 14, 2010
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2010/06/pentagon-explains-kirk-politicking-on-active-duty.html


The Pentagon today offered details to support its assertion that Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk twice violated military policy by participating in political activities while on active duty -- once in 2008 and once in 2009.
Kirk--a congressman and Navy reserve commander--broke the rules when he gave TV interviews in December 2008 about the corruption arrest of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Defense Department said. Kirk violated policy again in July 2009 when he or a staff member posted a tweet on his Senate campaign Twitter account that indicated he was on duty at the National Military Command Center, the department said.

The explanation came a week after questions were first raised about a December waiver from the military that Kirk needed to serve in Afghanistan. The Pentagon referred to the policy violations in that waiver, adding fodder to the controversy over Kirk's embellishment of his military record. The five-term North Shore congressman is engaged in tough Senate race with Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer.

The Pentagon approved the waiver and allowed Kirk to go to Afghanistan but expressed “concerns arising from his partisan political activities during his last two tours of active duty.”

Kirk’s campaign denied he violated any Defense Department policies and called the memorandum written by Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Gail H. McGinn “simply off the mark.”

In its statement Monday evening, the Pentagon said, “Members of the Armed Forces on active duty may not participate in television discussions as an advocate for or against a partisan political party, candidate, or cause.” Discussing the “tweets,” the statement said, “Candidates for political office may not participate in any campaign activities while on active duty.”

Officials from Kirk’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Pentagon statement. Last week they released a timeline of Kirk's activities that showed he made the Blagojevich comments when he was participating in “reserve duty” in Virginia before being shipped to Afghanistan. That is within military guidelines, the campaign said.

The Pentagon did not address Kirk's statement but rather simply stated Kirk was on active duty at the time of both incidents.

Defense Department officials said neither violation was severe enough to deny Kirk’s wishes to go to Afghanistan. The new Pentagon statement said Kirk was “counseled about each of his violations after they occurred” and required to sign a statement acknowledging the restrictions on campaign activities before authorizing his Afghanistan duty.

Posted at 08:45:56 PM in 2010 Illinois election, 2010 Illinois U.S. Senate campaign