On Wednesday, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) climbed atop the moral ladder and from his precarious perch lambasted U.S. Attorney General William Barr, huffing that Barr “must retract his unfounded, irresponsible claim that American law enforcement ‘spied’ on the Trump Campaign.”
Blumenthal puffed, “As Barr admitted, there is absolutely no evidence that our nation’s own law enforcement officers did anything unlawful during their investigation into Russian meddling in our democracy. To recklessly suggest otherwise is deeply offensive.”
Blumenthal patronized, “I’m deeply disappointed AG Barr has so demeaned himself & DOJ by carelessly acting as a mouthpiece for Trump’s conspiracy theories. This language has a real, measurable impact on the lives & safety of our men & women in law enforcement. He owes them a retraction & an apology.”
Blumenthal’s pontificating was ripped, and fast; Sean Davis of The Federalist noted, “Are you referring to foreign spy and dossier author Christopher Steele, who was funded by Hillary and the DNC? Because he worked on behalf of a sanctioned Russian oligarch and colluded with Kremlin officials during the campaign.”
Brit Hume of Fox News echoed, “This is the last man on earth who ought to be complaining about unfounded and irresponsible claims given his innumerable such claims about Trump and Russia collusion.”
But what truly makes Blumenthal’s verbiage hypocritical when he labeled Barr’s statement an “unfounded, irresponsible claim,” is that this is the same man who was openly exposed as having lied about his service in Vietnam.
In February 2017, Fox News outlined Blumenthal’s shady record concerning his Vietnam claims, reporting:
Blumenthal received five deferments, from 1965-1970, before enlisting in the Marine Corps Reserve, though he was never sent out of the U.S. During his six years in the Reserve, Blumenthal was stationed in Washington, focusing on a slew of local projects, such as a Toys for Tots drive. During his political career, however, Blumenthal frequently walked a precarious line, often framing his service just ambiguously enough to give the impression that he had spent time fighting in Vietnam.
“I served during the Vietnam era,” Blumenthal said in 2008. “I remember the taunts, the insults, sometimes even physical abuse.” He told a gathering of families who were expressing support for returning American troops in 2003 that, “when we returned, we saw nothing like this.” Blumenthal, however, crossed the line when speaking to a group of veterans in March 2008. “We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” he said.
In May 2017, Blumenthal stated on CNN’s New Day, “What we have now is really a looming constitutional crisis that is deadly serious because there is an investigation ongoing. Ultimately, there may be subpoenas to the President of the United States, just as occurred in 1973 precipitating United States versus Nixon and a similar firing of a special prosecutor. So what’s needed now is, in fact, an independent counsel and special prosecutor.”
President Trump fired back on Twitter, “Watching Senator Richard Blumenthal speak of Comey is a joke. ‘Richie’ devised one of the greatest military frauds in U.S. history. For years, as a pol in Connecticut, Blumenthal would talk of his great bravery and conquests in Vietnam — except he was never there. When caught, he cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness, and now he is judge & jury. He should be the one who is investigated for his acts.”