Rep. John Murtha (PA-D) made headlines in May of 2006 for spouting this treasonous slander of our Marines in Iraq:
MSNBC – Murtha, a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, said at a news conference Wednesday [5/17] that sources within the military have told him that an internal investigation will show that “there was no firefight, there was no IED (improvised explosive device) that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.”
CNN – “They actually went into the houses and killed women and children,” the congressman said.
Rep. Murtha, “under heavy questioning, redeployed to the elevator.”
To date, all charges against six of the eight Marines involved in this suit have been dropped.
One of the exonerated Marines has filed suit against Rep. Murtha for slander. Murtha is now refusing to give a deposition in the lawsuit…on the grounds that he is immune.
From Michelle Malkin -
A Marine who sued U.S. Rep. John Murtha for defamation urged a federal appeals court Tuesday to order the Johnstown Democrat to testify under oath in the case.
An attorney for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich told the court that he needs Murtha’s deposition to determine how often the congressman made the claim that Marines in Iraq engaged in “cold-blooded murder and war crimes” in the slayings of civilians in Haditha.
A government attorney representing Murtha told the judges that the lawmaker has immunity from the lawsuit because he was acting in his official role as a lawmaker when he made the comments to reporters.
…Assistant U.S Attorney Darrell Valdez, who represents Murtha, argued that a member of Congress is “absolutely immune” from a defamation suit because there’s no circumstance in which speaking to the media is not within the scope of a lawmaker’s employment.
Valdez said it would be hard to find an issue more of public concern than the Iraq war.
But Judge Karen Lecraft Henderson seemed skeptical about Valdez’s argument.“Are you saying a congressman can say anything that he wants about the Iraq war?” Henderson asked Valdez. She questioned if intent and motive should also be considered.
As if this all weren’t stunning enough, John Murtha was just re-elected to his Pennsylvania congressional seat despite calling his constiuents “rednecks” and “racists.”
Exit observation: looks like US Attorney Darrell Valdez is building his resumé for a job in the Obama White House!
1 Comment
March 20, 2009 at 12:33 pm
[...] deserves no such award. He has routinely and deliberately undermined the United States military, slandered servicemen serving in combat, and caused irreparable damage to our international reputation,” the [...]