Legal Insurrection readers voted by almost 2-1 that Tim Walz would make it to the Democratic National Convention where he will be nominated as candidate for Vice President.
Yet each passing day and hour, more evidence comes out that could make Walz untenable on the ticket.
The scandal has two aspects, which the media loves to obfuscate and confuse to sow doubt. First is the claim of “stolen valor,” that Walz misrepresented or deceived the public while running for political office about his rank, whether he served in combat, and whether he served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The second aspect is whether he retired after knowing his unit was going to be deployed to Iraq, effectively abandoning the men and women under his command.
On that second aspect, the abandonment of his troops, Democrats and the media have tried to argue that at the time Walz put in for retirement, he did not know his unit would be deployed to Iraq because the actual Order came down a couple of months later. That claim is contradicted by contemporaneous reports, including Walz’s own March 2005 campaign press release, that the unit received word long prior to the official Order, and that Walz as a senior NCO would have known.
Now there is a video interview conducted by CNN of the person to whom Walz reported at the time, Command Sergeant Major Doug Julin, who states unequivocally that the unit knew for several months before the official Order that it would be deployed, and that Walz specifically knew. Not only did Walz know, he told Julin that Walz intended to go with the unit to Iraq.
While watching the video interview, note how the CNN anchor repeatedly tries to interrupt him and redirect and confuse the issues, making it seem like it was just a paperwork and reporting issue and whether Walz had a right to retire, but it didn’t work.
Laura Coates from CNN interviews Tim Walz’s former Command Sergeant Major Doug Julin. He definitively lays out the case of Walz abandoning his unit with knowledge of deployment in Nov of 2004, 6-7 months before he put in his retirement request. Along the way Walz assured he was going forward with the battalion/deployment. Then Walz went 2 levels above Julin (his chain of command) to put in retirement as his unit was getting ready to deploy.
Straw man defenses are rising all over the place, with defenders trying to make the issue something it’s not, and attacking Julin personally.
But Julin is not the first person to some forward with a similar story:
Julin is the third retired CSM to speak with Alpha News this month about a story that all three say deserves more attention.Republican gubernatorial candidate Dr. Scott Jensen called a press conference Thursday to draw attention to the story. He was joined by retired Command Sergeant Major Tom Behrends, who ended up replacing Walz on the deployment.“In my eyes, today is the day that Tim Walz is indicted for lack of leadership and an unwillingness to do his duty,” Jensen said.Gov. Walz responded a short time later while he attended a dedication of a new Medal of Honor Memorial on the Capitol grounds.“I don’t know if Tom just disagrees with my politics or whatever, but my record speaks for itself and my accomplishments in uniform speak for itself, and there’s many people in this crowd, too, that I served with,” Walz told KSTP. “It’s just unfortunate.
None of this is new. It was not invented because he’s the likely VP nominee. People with whom Walz served have been complaining about the “abandonment” and “stolen valor” for years.
Is it the final nail in the Walz political coffin?
Coffin meet last nailCSM Julin of Walz’s higher HQ says Walz knew of upcoming deployment in Fall 2004Walz told him in Feb 2005 he would deploy with themOtherwise they would have replaced him so someone else could team buildWalz dodge the deployment & screwed troopsDone
Is anyone ready to change their vote on whether Walz makes it to the convention?
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