Bloomberg News just added a tidbit to the controversy over GOP U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk's repeated claim that the Navy once named him "intelligence officer of the year." A web video published in August of last year -- in conjunction with the official launch of his Senate campaign -- highlighted the false credential (in fact, Kirk accepted something called the Rufus Taylor award on behalf of his intelligence unit in 2000). Watch it (the relevant portion starts 55 seconds in):
UPDATE (4:35 p.m.): You'll notice that the web video further states that he received the award for his "combat service in Kosovo." As Capitol Fax noted this morning, Kirk has since retracted any mention of "combat service" from his official biography.
The controversy over GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk's false claim that the Navy once named him "intelligence officer of the year" got some airtime on MSNBC's Morning Joe earlier today. Co-host Joe Scarborough commented, "Kirk ... says he won an award he didn't win. A military award. Unbelievable." Politico reporter Mike Allen went on to note that he wouldn't describe himself as "journalist of the year" if his news outlet won a Pulitzer -- referring to the fact that it was Kirk's intelligence unit that won an award in 2000. Watch it:
You can get more background on the controversy here.
While GOP U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk is desperately trying to blame the
ongoing controversy over the embellishment of his military record on
Democratic rival Alexi Giannoulias, the truth is he brought this
on himself.
After media began questioning the matter, GOP U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk retracted his claim that he once received the Navy's "Intelligence Officer of the Year" award.
Shortly after announcing that two Obama adminstration officials will campaign for him in mid-June, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias disclosed that former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe will appear at a June 30 fundraiser in Chicago.
Politico reports today that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is "flirting" with the idea of backing Republican Mark Kirk over Democrat Alexi Giannoulias in the U.S. Senate race.
After planting the seeds for a national high-speed rail system, Democrats in Washington and Springfield should find a way to double-down on their initial investment.
