[Peace-discuss] Roll Call: Has Kirk's Office Been Running a Secret Anti-Hagel Campaign?

[Robert Naiman]

Our Senator at work - even when he's not at work.

Kirk's Office Been Running a Secret Anti-Hagel Campaign?

   - By Meredith Shiner <http://www.rollcall.com/reporters/67.html>
   - Roll Call Staff
   - Jan. 9, 2013, 5:05 p.m.

A top aide to Sen. Mark S. Kirk <http://www.rollcall.com/members/7051.html>,
R-Ill., has been distributing anti-Chuck Hagel emails to a large,
undisclosed listserv of staffers — including Democrats — beginning as early
as Dec. 20, according to the more than a dozen emails obtained by CQ Roll
Call.

Richard Goldberg, a deputy chief of staff in Kirk’s office who also focuses
on foreign policy issues, has been sending as many as three emails a day to
the list, which CQ Roll Call confirmed includes reporters, Republican
policy staffers and some Democrats. The emails typically include links or
text of articles that cast Hagel — a former Republican senator from
Nebraska and President Barack Obama’s secretary of Defense nominee — in a
negative light.

Many Republicans have expressed reservations about Hagel’s
appointment,<http://www.rollcall.com/news/hagel_to_face_concerted_opposition_for_top_pentagon_post-220610-1.html>
questioning
the Vietnam War veteran’s positions on Israel and Iran sanctions, two
issues upon which Kirk has concentrated throughout his congressional
career. But Kirk himself has not publicly opposed Hagel’s nomination,
especially not to the extent that the emails from his staffer collectively
suggest.

“I appreciate and respect Senator Hagel’s record of service to our country,
especially as a decorated combat veteran,” Kirk said in a Jan. 5 statement.
“I am concerned about his past record and statements, particularly with
regard to Iran and the U.S.-Israel relationship. Should he be nominated to
serve as Secretary of Defense, I will join my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle in a rigorous examination of these and other issues of concern.”

When asked about Goldberg’s emails, Kirk’s office reiterated the senator’s
concerns, but did not address whether Goldberg was authorized or asked to
mount the anti-Hagel campaign.

“The Senator has made it very clear that he has concerns about Senator
Hagel’s past record and statements on a number of issues and will be asking
serious questions as this process moves forward,” the statement provided to
CQ Roll Call said.

The chatter within Republican circles, however, is that Kirk’s office has
been taking a lead role in the campaign against Hagel’s confirmation. Two
sources said they expect Kirk will be more vocal about his concerns in the
coming days.

The Illinois Republican has long been an outspoken supporter of Israel and
an ally of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC has remained
relatively quite since Obama announced Hagel as his pick for the Pentagon’s
top seat, but it remains unclear how the powerful lobby — at the center of
one of Hagel’s most controversial remarks — will advise its friends in
Congress.

Kirk also was one of the lead co-sponsors of an Iranian sanctions measure
included in last month’s National Defense Authorization Act.

It’s notable that Goldberg’s first email was sent in December, weeks before
Kirk, who missed nearly an entire year in Washington after suffering a
stroke, returned to the
Capitol<http://www.rollcall.com/news/kirk_makes_inspiring_return_to_senate-220514-1.html>
and
well before Hagel was officially tapped by Obama.

A selection of the subject lines include: “Breaking: Chuck Hagel Once
Opposed Nominee Because He Was ‘Openly Aggressively Gay” (12/20/2012);
“ICYMI: Chuck Hagel’s History of Homophobia” (01/01/2013); “Iran State TV
Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel Selection” (01/06/2013); “Must Watch:
Maddow Slams Hagel’s ‘Akin-esque’ Views on Rape, Abortion, LGBT in the
Military” (01/08/2013); “ICYMI: Hagel’s group sees Iran as a future ally”
(01/09/2013).

According to one source, at least four Democratic foreign policy staffers
have been receiving the notes and multiple GOP sources confirmed that their
foreign policy aides have been receiving them as well. Another source
indicated that the anti-Hagel emails actually began earlier in the month,
but those missives were not among those reviewed by CQ Roll Call

http://www.rollcall.com/news/has_kirks_office_been_running_a_secret_anti_hagel_campaign-220664-1.html?zkPrintable=true

-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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