Kerry's Discharge Is Questioned by An Ex-JAG Officer

New York Sun ^ | 11/1/04 | THOMAS LIPSCOMB

[conservative in nyc]

A former officer in the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps Reserve has built a case that Senator Kerry was other than honorably discharged from the Navy by 1975, The New York Sun has learned.

The "honorable discharge" on the Kerry Web site appears to be a Carter administration substitute for an original action expunged from Mr. Kerry's record, according to Mark Sullivan, who retired as a captain in the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps Reserve in 2003 after 33 years of service as a judge advocate. Mr. Sullivan served in the office of the Secretary of the Navy between 1975 and 1977.

On behalf of the Kerry campaign, Michael Meehan and others have repeatedly insisted all of Mr. Kerry's military records are on his Web site at johnkerry.com, except for his medical records.

"If that is the case," Mr. Sullivan

[conservative in nyc]

The full Libscomb article should be posted on www.nysun.com within a few hours. This is the portion of the Libscomb article on the front page of the paper. It carries over onto page 6.

It doesn't sound like any definite conclusions were reached by Mr. Lipscomb, or that the rumored "in-the-know" Secretary of the Navy has come forward. I doubt this story will have legs. Hopefully, I'm wrong.

[kingu]

Without an authoritative source, or the actual paperwork, this won't see the light of day outside of FreeRepublic, a few blogs, and random newspapers. If it does come out after the election, it would be interesting to see if the senate takes any action...

[maine-iac7]

The sun broke basically the same story a few weeks ago - it didn't get very far - you could have the original discharge, the officer that signed and 100 witnesses and the MSM wouldn't breath a word...

It'll only run with known fraudulent records against Bush for maybe not showing up for a physical he no longer was required to take in the first place.

But a less that honorable discharge that K's lied about all these years - move along

[igoramus987]

Why is it so hard for the media to ask Kerry one simple question...
Why haven't you signed Standard-Form 180?

[mindwest]

The detailed analysis is now online at

http://www.vetsforbush.net/kerry-oth-discharge.pdf

[Smoote]

Unfortunately the MSM would see such a discharge as a badge of honor - not of shame.

[Cold Heat]

As promised, here is the next in a line of nothing.

[ThirstyMan]

"Why is it so hard for the media to ask Kerry one simple question... Why haven't you signed Standard-Form 180?"

We the American people have been cheated. The MSM has jumped into this race as partisans with an obvious double standard, using their trusted office to further their own Kerry agenda for the future.

My prayer to God is that there are enough American voters who see through this shallowness although I have to admit, I am a bit nervous.

It's a shame the the facts are not out, completely on the table, on this "Standard-Form 180" issue.

[LegalEagle61]

Without an authoritative source, or the actual paperwork, this won't see the light of day outside of FreeRepublic, a few blogs, and random newspapers.

That didn't stop Dan Rather and CBS, now did it?

[conservative in nyc]

The full article is now on the New York Sun's website here:

There's no smoking gun, but there's a little bit of interesting information near the end of the article:

Mr. Kerry has said, "I applied to Harvard, Boston University, and Boston College. I was extremely late. Only BC would entertain a late application."

It is hard to see why Mr. Kerry had to file an "extremely late" application since he lost the congressional race in Lowell, Mass., the first week of November 1972 and was basically doing nothing until he entered law school the following September of 1973.A member of the Harvard Law School admissions committee recalled that the real reason Mr. Kerry was not admitted was because the committee was concerned that because Mr. Kerry had received a less than honorable discharge they were not sure he could be admitted to any state bar.

The fact that Mr. Kerry had cancelled his candidacy for a Congressional seat in 1970 in favor of Father Robert Drinan cannot have hurt Mr. Kerry's admission to Boston College. The Reverend Robert Drinan's previous position was dean of the Boston College Law School.

Given this, it is likely that a legal review took place that effectively purged Mr. Kerry's Navy files and arranged for the three-year-late honorable discharge in 1978.There were two avenues during the 1977-1978 time period. This could have been under President Carter's Executive Order 11967, under which thousands received pardons and upgrades for harsh discharges or other offenses under the Selective Service Act. Or it might have merged into efforts by the military to comply with the demands of the 1975 Church Committee. Mr. Sullivan was personally involved in the 1976 and 1977 records review answering Senator Kennedy's demands to determine the scope of any counterintelligence abuses by the military.

In the Foreign Surveillance Act of 1977, legislation introduced by Mr. Kennedy to enforce the findings of the Church Committee, there is language that literally describes the behavior of Mr. Kerry. The defined behavior that could no longer be subject to surveillance without warrants includes: "Americans having contact with foreign powers in the case of Americans who were active in the protest against U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Some of them may have attended international conferences at which there were representatives of foreign powers, as defined in the bill, or may have been directly in communication with foreign governments concerning this issue."

[maryz]

Thanks for the link -- and for digging this out:

A member of the Harvard Law School admissions committee recalled that the real reason Mr. Kerry was not admitted was because the committee was concerned that because Mr. Kerry had received a less than honorable discharge they were not sure he could be admitted to any state bar.

[conservative in nyc]

Check this out:

Original Massachusetts bar applications are public records:

http://www.sjccountyclerk.com/copymabarapp.html

[conservative in nyc]

Let me take a step back.. MAY be public records. It's unclear. I think this page is on the attorney services portion of the website.

[Uncle Vlad]

The media has been in the tank for Kerry since he became the nominee.

[maryz]

Looks public -- they just want $10.00 for a certified copy. Unfortunately, they don't just let you search for the application before you order a certified copy.

[igoramus987]

A member of the Harvard Law School admissions committee recalled that the real reason Mr. Kerry was not admitted was because the committee was concerned that because Mr. Kerry had received a less than honorable discharge they were not sure he could be admitted to any state bar.

Let's also remember that Kerry was a member of the Skull and Bones secret society in Yale. Just speculation... but I'm surprised that if he applied to Havard, especially with the backing of Skull and Bones, that he didn't get accepted.

[ketchikan]

How does one alert Drudge to the statement in post #11?

[glory2]

Drudge wouldn't do anything about this. He has been contacted countless times and refuses to touch it. Look at his site tonight and see who he really supports. He has become like all the other MSM. His credibility is lost with me.

[FarmerW]

I emailed Drudge any way, we have little to lose by trying and much to lose if the truth remains hidden.

[First_Salute]

I doubt that this Navy officer has "built a case."

With the exception of some minor charges against Lt. John F. Kerry, all else about which may be read or heard in public, is in regard to high crimes against the United States, which means that it is still subject to participation under the U.C.M.J. at the direction of the President.

(President Carter's blanket amnesty, did not apply, because it was for people who had evaded military service, which John Kerry did not do, despite his military maneuvers to avoid further exposure in Vietnam.)

President Bush has said to this possibility, NO! This is not going to happen on his watch. "John Kerry has served honorably." End of story.

Now, to expose enough information of the investigations by the military in the late 1960's and early 1970's, that would show that Lt. John F. Kerry was then a suspect under investigation because of his associations with communists, foreign and domestic, and that such investigative procedures gave rise to less then Honorable processing of Lt. Kerry's "records career" through the maze of the Dept. of Defense, would present President Bush with the problem of whether or not, to prosecute, in order to uphold the laws of the United States.

He has said, No.

No means No.

Not going to happen.

There is no case against John F. Kerry. Anybody who wishes to pursue this further, is going to find themselves hanging, hoisted up by their own attempts at gathering attention, or suffering from richochet.