patrick.net

At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life.

“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”

There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.

The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/nyregion/18blumenthal.html?_r=0&pagewanted=all&referer

Blumenthal singled out a report in the Journal that questioned whether Gorsuch participated in pro-bono legal programs while attending Harvard Law School. The newspaper spoke to six of his contemporaries who did not recall Gorsuch providing free legal services to inmates or the poor as a student. The report failed to note that five of the six sources had donated thousands of dollars to liberal candidates and causes.

Blumenthal said he expected the report to play a role in confirmation hearings.

"This issue goes to credibility and qualifications," Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal's own credibility has been called into question since he entered public life. When Blumenthal first ran for the Senate in 2010, the New York Times revealed that he had lied for years about fighting in the Vietnam War. Blumenthal repeatedly touted his supposed combat experience in speeches to veterans groups and civic organizations, saying he had "served in Vietnam."

However, a review of his military records revealed that he procured five deferments from the military before joining the Marine Reserve. During the war he traveled as far west as Washington, where he helped the Toys for Tots program, but never saw actual combat.

"What is striking about Mr. Blumenthal's record is the contrast between the many steps he took that allowed him to avoid Vietnam, and the misleading way he often speaks about that period of his life now, especially when he is speaking at veterans' ceremonies or other patriotic events," the Times reported.

http://freebeacon.com/politics/dem-lied-vietnam-service-calls-extreme-vetting-gorsuch/