SwiftVets.com

[integritycounts]

http://www.redstate.org/story/2004/8/16/134321/632

John Kerry: Former Vice Chair of Intel? By: Robert Tagorda · Section: Election 2004

In various press releases, including an August 6 "fact check," the Democrats have asserted that "John Kerry served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for 6 years and is the former Vice Chairman of the Committee." Eugene Volokh questions this claim:

Now the Republican National Committee is pointing out -- correctly, I think, based on my quick search -- that Kerry never was the Vice Chairman of the Committee; that post was held by former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey.

I've followed up on Professor Volokh's work and conducted my own research. Democrats won't be pleased with the findings....
Posted On: Aug 16th, 2004: 13:43:21, Not Rated



The LexisNexis Congressional Page, whose member profiles go back to the 1997-1998 session, provides the following intelligence-committee ranks for Kerry:
108th Congress (2003-2004): Not a member
107th Congress (2001-2002): Not a member
106th Congress (1999-2000): 3
105th Congress (1997-1998): 4

If he were the vice chairman at some point, we would expect him to have appeared in the number-two slot. But he doesn't seem to have reached that level. And it would be unlikely for him to have held the post in preceding congressional sessions when he was younger; typically, senators progress to higher ranking.

Still, for the sake of covering all the bases, the examination should extend to at least the 1995-1996 session. After all, Democrats have noted that "Kerry joined the Committee in early 1995 and served until early 2001."

A LexisNexis News search ("john pre/2 kerry and intelligence and vice chair!" from 1995 to 2001) yields 12 results. Only two are pertinent to the topic at hand -- and both display similar Scripps Howard News Service dispatches by Lance Gay. They contain these sentences (emphasis added):

President Clinton's 1994 decision to allow secret Iranian arms shipments to Bosnia violated a United Nations arms embargo, the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded yesterday.

[...]

Committee Vice Chairman Sen. John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, defended the decision and said the arms shipments were desperately needed by Bosnian Muslims to prevent the Serbs from winning the war.
Interestingly, one of the articles was published in the November 8, 1996 edition of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. The Democratic press releases have included citations for "Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11/6/96." The Nexis search yields no such article, but it seems pretty safe to assume that they meant "11/8/96."

So now we have documentary evidence to support Kerry. There's a problem, though. If you look at the actual intelligence committee report on Iranian arms transfers -- a copy of which is available on the Federation of American Scientists site -- you find the following note:

J. ROBERT KERREY, Nebraska, Vice Chairman
If you look at other similar documents, including "Special Report: Committee Activities" (January 17, 1995) and "Capability of the United States to Monitor Compliance with the Start II Treaty" (March 27, 1996), you'll find the exact same thing. Scripps Howard appears to have misattributed the vice-chairmanship to Kerry.

Now, it could be the case that, at some point between 1995 and 2001, Kerry served in the position on an interim basis. I have no idea. But the most likely explanation is that Kerry never made it as vice chairman, and Democrats relied on one erroneous dispatch to "fact check" the Bush campaign.

[low26]

Kerry lies so much he believes his own lies and forgets what he lied about and, as Mr O'Neill pointed out when you lie so much sometimes you tell the truth by mistake. Look up the definition of a compulsive liar it should have Kerry's picture there! along with delusional

[You GottaBeKidding]

I suspect this was some junior staffer who doesn't know the difference between "Kerry" and "Kerrey".

[nickb]

[MrBuzzcut]

[Polaris]

People,

Oh this is getting better and better. I know some of you are still upset with them, but go to www.factcheck.org . They completely demolish Kerry in their latest review. They say that Bush is being kind to Kerry.
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-Polaris

Truth is Beauty

[ArmyWife]

John Kerry has likely been benefitting from confusion with Bob Kerrey for a long time. In case you don't know, Bob Kerrey is a Medal of Honor recipient.

[Son Of The Godfather]

Thanks Polaris, it just keeps getting better!

SOTG
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"Which candidate would enemies of the United States prefer to see in the White House?"