In yet another embarrassing revelation for GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk, a document from the Department of Defense has surfaced showing military officials expressed “concerns arising from his partisan political activities during his last two tours of active duty.”
Kirk, a commander in the U.S. Navy reserves, needed a “waiver” to become — in his words — the first congressman to be deployed to an “imminent danger” area since World War II when he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 and again last year.
Because of the officials’ concerns about his previous “partisan political activities,” they required him to write out an “acknowledgement of limitations required for all candidates on active duty,” which he did. The waiver was granted.
The documents were posted on-line Wednesday evening by Terry Welch of Nitpicker.blogspot.com.
The document that surfaced Wednesday also raises issues about whether Kirk is being accurate when he says he was deployed to an “imminent danger area.” Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Gail McGinn wrote that as a congressman, Kirk was ineligible to deploy to such an area. McGinn has since retired.
