US Marine files suit against Congressman

[SASless]

Please to recall this is the same Murtha that was an unindicted co-conspirator in the infamous ABSCAM investigation of Congress by the FBI.



Marine Names Murtha in Defamation Suit
Congressman Discussed Killings Involving Serviceman's Squad in Haditha, Iraq

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 2, 2006; A05

A Marine Corps staff sergeant who led the squad accused of killing two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq, will file a lawsuit today in federal court in Washington claiming that Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) defamed him when the congressman made public comments about the incident earlier this year.

Attorneys for Frank D. Wuterich, 26, argue in court papers that Murtha tarnished the Marine's reputation by telling news organizations in May that the Marine unit cracked after a roadside bomb killed one of its members and that the troops "killed innocent civilians in cold blood." Murtha also said repeatedly that the incident was covered up.

Murtha argued that the questionable deaths of 24 civilians were indicative of the difficulties and overpowering stress that U.S. troops are facing. The congressman, a former Marine, has been a leading advocate for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq.

In the court filing, obtained by The Washington Post, the lawyers say that Murtha made the comments after being briefed by Defense Department officials who "deliberately provided him with inaccurate and false information." Neal A. Puckett and Mark S. Zaid, suing for libel and invasion of privacy, also wrote that Murtha made the comments outside of his official scope as a congressman.

Telephone calls yesterday to Murtha's office in Washington were referred to his district office in Pennsylvania, and calls there were not returned. A Marine Corps spokesman declined to comment yesterday on the Haditha investigation or the lawsuit.

The suit could have interesting legal ramifications because Wuterich and the other members of his squad have not been charged and have not received any official investigative documentation about the Nov. 19 incident. A Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation is expected to determine possible charges this summer, said officials familiar with the case.

Zaid said the filing is designed partly to force Murtha to disclose what information he received from the Defense Department and the Marine Corps commandant to form his opinion, essentially trying to speed up the discovery process in a potential criminal trial.

"This case is not about money; it's about clearing Frank Wuterich's name, and part of that is to identify where these leaks are coming from," Zaid said in an interview. "Congressman Murtha has created this atmosphere that has already concluded guilt. He's created this environment that really smells, and he's the only one who has done that."

The move by Wuterich is rare, as statements made by members of Congress generally are protected under the "speech or debate" clause in Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution. But legal experts said the clause grants immunity only for what lawmakers say in legislative proceedings and does not apply to news releases, speeches and other public comments.

Rodney A. Smolla, dean of the University of Richmond Law School and a libel expert, said yesterday that Wuterich would have the burden of proving that he is innocent and that Murtha's statements were false, but he added that the quotations appear to be actionable in court. He said the suit shows that Wuterich probably thinks he did nothing wrong.

"Part of the subtext of this is it's a showing of confidence and a preemptive strike of sorts," Smolla said. "The congressman's statement does not sound as if it is merely hyperbole or opinion or name-calling. Instead, it conveys the idea that the Marines violated professional standards and perhaps the law."

Wuterich, through his attorneys, has maintained his innocence and has said that the Marines killed two dozen people that day because they were engaged in a firefight with suspected insurgents. He told his lawyers that he and other Marines used grenades and rifles to clear two houses they thought were hostile. Another Marine's detailed account of the incident, obtained by The Post, corroborates Wuterich's version.

Donald Ritchie, associate historian in the Senate Historical Office, said that such defamation suits happen from time to time but that they tend not to go anywhere because of the constitutional protections members have. He said the most famous case was in 1979, when the Supreme Court ruled that Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) was not protected when he made defamatory statements to constituents in a newsletter.

"The Supreme Court has suggested that speech and debate has limits to it, and that makes people vulnerable in certain areas," Ritchie said.

[MarkD]

Here's Murtha's military record (Wikipedia)

Murtha left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marine Corps and was awarded the American Spirit Honor Medal for displaying outstanding leadership qualities during training. Murtha rose through the ranks to become a drill instructor at Parris Island and was selected for Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. Murtha was then was assigned to the Second Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Murtha remained in the Marine Corps Reserves, and ran a small business, Johnstown Minute Car Wash. Murtha attended the University of Pittsburgh on the G.I. Bill, and received a degree in economics. Murtha later took graduate courses from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Murtha married his wife Joyce on June 10, 1955—they now have three children and live in Johnstown.

In 1959, Murtha, then a captain, took command of the 34th Special Infantry Company, Marine Corps Reserves, in Johnstown. He remained in the Reserves after his discharge from active duty until he volunteered for service in the Vietnam War, serving from 1966 to 1967, serving as a battalion staff officer (S-2 Intelligence Section), receiving the Bronze Star with Valor device, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He retired from the Reserves as a colonel in 1990, receiving the Navy Distinguished Service Medal

[Washington_Irving]

Do you have a point SASless, or are you just throwing some mud around in the hope that some sticks?

An unindicted co-conspirator- so that would mean that he wasn't even charged, right?

I think this is the important bit (right under the part you emboldened):

Zaid said the filing is designed partly to force Murtha to disclose what information he received from the Defense Department and the Marine Corps commandant to form his opinion, essentially trying to speed up the discovery process in a potential criminal trial.

Some questions to ponder- who's paying this guy's legal fees? Prima facie it would appear that the SSgt has an uphill legal battle on his hands and I dare say it serves somebody's political agenda. Secondly, why is it taking so long for the report to come out? The investigation was supposed to be near completion months ago.

[SASless]

Funny thing, two pilots are accused of negligence, an RAF controller is courtmartialed and we have two long running threads with thousands of posts decrying unfair treatment of those accused.

But yet, when a US Marine is "convicted" of murder by a politician on the nightly news...long before the investigation is completed, there is no outrage or concern an injustice has been done.

Upon what "evidence", court record, or set of facts did he make his claim? Is not a Marine entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guility by a courts martial?

Would Murtha have liked his colleagues doing the same for him?

Did Murtha who claims to be a "Marine" consider his actions something that conforms to the traditions of the Marine Corps?

Do you know the story of how he survived ABSCAM? Find the accounts of the political deal struck by Tip O'Neill, Charlie Wilson, and the House Ethics Committee...this is not the first dirty deal that Murtha has been involved with.

[Washington_Irving]

Funny you should mention it, but AP has just 40mins ago put this story out:

Probe Backs Allegations Against Marines

WASHINGTON - An initial U.S. military probe supports allegations that American Marines deliberately shot 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060802/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/haditha_investigation_12

Open your gob a little wider, you just might be able to put the other foot in. Did you honestly think that Murtha, who has been there done that, would have been stupid enough to spout off in the way that he did if he wasn't sure of his facts?

As for your tinfoil hat theory- I just don't see what possible bearing it has on this case.

[Sunfish]

Sasless, it is interesting hearing the pot calling the kettle black.

The Bush Administration has incarcerated people without any form of due process. We have seen a marine shoot a wounded man on TV, we are aware of Al Ghraib and other abuses including torture - and you have the gall to suddenly get upset that the marine in question is to be presumed innocent and has the right to know the evidence against him?

It is interesting to see someone get on his high horse and get morally outraged about the apparent defamation of this marine. Why do not we not see similar outrage over the Bush Administrations excesses?

(Maybe this entire thread is not for Pprune as it has nothing to do with avaiation)

[MrBernoulli]

................... but it is the military part of PPRuNe! It may have wider implications. As with all threads here, you only have to participate in those you want to.

[South Bound]

Crikey, SAS can never win with you lot can he?

Sounds fair to me, anyone pre-judged something like that publicly regarding me, and I would have them in court PDQ. Trouble is, there has been so much rumour, conjucture and press coverage that the boys have already been convicted. I know what I believe to be the truth of the matter (based on my interpretation of the coverage) but would not dream to present it as fact.

[SASless]

Washington,

I do believe the wording in the PR was "some" may have.....which is a very long way from a conviction in court would you not say?

Seems odd, by being a serving member of the US Marine Corps is sufficient evidence to some to convict "all" Marines.

Is that how you really want punishment to be meted out to you and your fellows in the military service?

For Murtha to make those statements beginning in May....and the report not being finished until August....he must be clairvoyant. That assumes the report of investigation even determines the truth of the matter.

As to his having been there...done that....one might care to read up on his combat service. Being an intelligence officer at Battalion or Regiment does not exactly put one into catagory of having "been there and done that".

[Reach]

Washington's question is the most interesting - "who is paying his legal fees?"

Are we seeing the "swiftboating" of Rep. Murtha?

[SASless]

Reach,

I certainly hope so! He is crooked as a snake.

Did you read his "clarification" yesterday when he tried to slither away from this situation he created?

He now says he did not mean to "convict" the Marines, the Marine Corps, or the troops fighting the war but merely tried to note the "stress" the troops were under while fighting the war and the negative effect that was causing.

As to who is paying the legal fees......a "boat load of Veterans and Former Marines". Many of us have donated money to those guy's defense fund. We want to see they get a "fair and impartial" trial if they are tried in Court. We don't want any drum head justice to happen.

If that is "Swift Boating" then I am proud to be a "Swifty" on this one.

[Reach]

Of course he's crooked as a snake. He's a Congressman!

[SASless]

Murtha issues statement on lawsuit


Johnstown, PA - Congressman John Murtha today released the following statement about a lawsuit filed by a Marine Corps staff sergeant who led the squad accused of killing two dozen civilians in Haditha in November 2005. An Associated Press story filed earlier this morning said that evidence collected in Haditha “supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot” 24 civilians, including unarmed women and children.

“I don’t blame the staff sergeant for lashing out. When I spoke up about Haditha, my intention was to draw attention to the horrendous pressure put on our troops in Iraq and to the cover-up of the incident.

“Our troops are caught in the middle of a tragic dilemma. The military trains them to fight a conventional war and use overwhelming force to protect U.S. lives. I agree with that policy, but when we use force, we often kill civilians. What are the consequences?

“Three years ago, there were fewer than 500 foreign fighters in Iraq. They were called ‘dead enders.’ Then there were 5,000, and they were called ‘terrorists.’ Now there are 20,000, and the administration calls this ‘sectarian violence.’

“All this time, we’ve had at least 130,000 U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq. In the last year, incidents have increased from 49 per day to 100 per day. About 14,000 Iraqis were killed in the last year, mostly in the last six months. Oil and electricity production are below pre-war level, and unemployment is 60 percent throughout most of the country. Our troops are in 120-degree temperatures with 70 pounds of equipment on their back, and they don’t know who the enemy is.

“This conflict cannot be won militarily. Our troops are caught in the middle of a civil war. It’s well beyond the time to redeploy from Iraq.”


No mention of how he came into possession of the facts that his comments have been based upon while calling the Marines "Murderers".

"Lashing Out".....does he refer to the killings or to the lawsuit?

[Washington_Irving]

You're grasping at straws SASless.

As to how Murtha got the information. Aside from the fact that he's a Member of the House of Representatives and is therefore oftentimes privy to such information, my immediate guess would be that when the ranking member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee [that is, the people who decide a) how much money the DoD gets, b) what services get it and c) what they can spend it on- in case you slept through your high school civics classes with the wrestling coach] picks up the phone and calls the 5-sided wind tunnel on the Potomac to ask them a question, they're going to give him an answer.

[SASless]

Wash,

The report is still under review and was only submitted within a week. Over three months ago....Murtha damned the accused....long before the facts were out. Remember the Iowa investigation of the explosion in the main gun turret and how young Seaman Hartwig was blamed by the NIS for being a suicidal homosexual....and the NIS and Navy had to eat their hat over those findings when it was determined to have been caused by a technical fault?

Do you remember the Seal Team Six investigation that took the best part of a year and came up with a very few minor offenses concerning travel claims....again the accused were made out to be heinous criminals well before the investigation was finished.

Perhaps you overlooked the Marine Lieutenant that was accused of three murders in Iraq and was found innocent of all charges during the trial.

The list goes on.....all these young men deserve a fair trial and politicians like Murtha should be confronted about their sleezy conduct.

Murtha is the senior Democrat on the Defense Appropriations committee and thus is a heavy weight politically. He also has a brother who is a lobbyist for defense firms who drew $20,000,000 in contracts from the DOD. Murtha leaned on the Navy to put a shipyard in Nancy Pelosi's district (the House Minority leader) on land owned by her husband. Murtha survived his misconduct in the ABSCAM scandel because he turned 'State's Evidence" and testified against one of the other Representatives who wound up being found guilty and was removed from the House.

Final note Wash, I served as an NIS (now NCIS) agent thus I know how the system works as I once was part of it. Surprisingly, I did not sleep through those high school classes as you suggest.

[MarkD]

the swiftboating of Murtha started when that barmy woman called him a coward on the floor of the House of Representatives.

[Washington_Irving]

Crikey, SAS can never win with you lot can he?

Sounds fair to me, anyone pre-judged something like that publicly regarding me, and I would have them in court PDQ. Trouble is, there has been so much rumour, conjucture and press coverage that the boys have already been convicted. I know what I believe to be the truth of the matter (based on my interpretation of the coverage) but would not dream to present it as fact.

Unfortunately that was bound to happen as soon as word of the killings got out. It's just the nature of the beast- look at the OJ and Michael Jackson cases. By filing this suit, the SSgt's lawyer is basically trying to frame the issue in a different way- i.e. trying to portray the men as victims/scapegoats, which is exactly what OJ's and Jackson's lawyers did- and look what happened in the end in those cases.

On a seperate point, it wouldn't require too much of a stretch of the old imagination to posit the view that the Administration is doing its best to sit on the publication of the report until it's a "good time" to release it.

My guess is that the Marines will be at the pointy end of Article 32 because the powers at be are also subject to a concurrent investigation into questions of a cover-up.

[Washington_Irving]

Wash,

The report is still under review and was only submitted within a week. Over three months ago....Murtha damned the accused....long before the facts were out. Remember the Iowa investigation of the explosion in the main gun turret and how young Seaman Hartwig was blamed by the NIS for being a suicidal homosexual....and the NIS and Navy had to eat their hat over those findings when it was determined to have been caused by a technical fault?

Do you remember the Seal Team Six investigation that took the best part of a year and came up with a very few minor offenses concerning travel claims....again the accused were made out to be heinous criminals well before the investigation was finished.

Perhaps you overlooked the Marine Lieutenant that was accused of three murders in Iraq and was found innocent of all charges during the trial.

The list goes on.....all these young men deserve a fair trial and politicians like Murtha should be confronted about their sleezy conduct.

Murtha is the senior Democrat on the Defense Appropriations committee and thus is a heavy weight politically. He also has a brother who is a lobbyist for defense firms who drew $20,000,000 in contracts from the DOD. Murtha leaned on the Navy to put a shipyard in Nancy Pelosi's district (the House Minority leader) on land owned by her husband. Murtha survived his misconduct in the ABSCAM scandel because he turned 'State's Evidence" and testified against one of the other Representatives who wound up being found guilty and was removed from the House.

Final note Wash, I served as an NIS (now NCIS) agent thus I know how the system works as I once was part of it. Surprisingly, I did not sleep through those high school classes as you suggest.

Again, as I said before, it would seem that you're more preoccupied with slinging mud at Murtha than discussing the case in hand- just an observation. The fact remains that whether Murtha revealed it or everybody gets to read the final report- it would appear the investigation is going to essentially support Murtha's account.

Say whatever you want about the guy, but he was right and there's no getting away from it.

[SASless]

Murtha right? The Report substantiates what he said?

Upon what set of facts do you present your statements Wash....the report is not out yet...have you read the report?

How can I discuss the events considering I know as little as Murtha and you....we were not there, we did not conduct the investigation, we have not read the report, and most importantly....we have not heard the "guilty persons" accounts.

Pretty hard to draw conclusions from what information is in the public domain....which is the crux of the argument. Murtha passed judgement as you now seem to be doing long before any adjudication of facts or culpability.

[Washington_Irving]

I guess we will have to wait and see;) , but going back to the AP report, my Spidey sense tells me that if the NCIS and the Pentagon are leaking the outcome ahead of time, there's a pretty good chance they're doing it to try and soften the blow when it is published.

[West Coast]

The scope of this thread has crept to silly. From lambasting Bush over the war to funding issues the water has muddies far too much. It comes down to the point that Murtha have kept his mouth closed until the Marines were found guilty or acquitted. In a court of law, not a court of public opinion.

I don't know if they are guilty or not. Lets wait to pass judgment. I suspect many here also determine probable cause of accidents based on press reports alone.

[SASless]

Seems I was right.....John Murtha is clairvoyant. One week after he made his accusations about the young Marine and his squad....he was briefed by the Commandant of the US Marine Corps.



WASHINGTON, Aug 3 - The head of the U.S. Marine Corps briefed Rep. John Murtha on the Haditha case after the vocal war critic publicly said Marines had killed innocent civilians in that Iraqi city, the Corps said on Thursday.

A group of Marines, while suspected in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians, has not been charged, and official results from the military's investigation remain outstanding.

Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, is being sued by one of the accused Marines for libel. He had told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Gen. Michael Hagee had given him the information on which he based his charge that Marines killed innocent civilians.

But a spokesman for the Marine Corps said Hagee briefed Murtha on May 24 about Haditha. Murtha had made comments on the case as early as May 17.

On May 17, for example, he said at a news conference, "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

A spokeswoman for Murtha was not immediately available.

One accused in the Haditha case, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, sued Murtha on Wednesday for libel, saying the congressman had made false, misleading and defamatory statements.

Lawyers for Wuterich, 26, said they hoped the lawsuit would give them a chance to question Murtha about the source of his information at the Pentagon.

Lawyers for other Marines suspected in the case say they have been unable to cull any information from the Defense Department.

The military initiated two investigations into the Haditha case -- a murder inquiry and a probe into the Marines' procedures following the killings.

On Tuesday, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the results of the investigations should be delivered to Congress in September.