RE: Burton-Rohrabacher-SEALs press conference

One other thought – if you can confirm that McCabe and Keefe will show, that would be helpful in drumming up media attention. Even if you don’t know for sure until Thursday, I can bomb out an advisory a few hours before the presser starts.

_____________________________
John Donnelly | Press Secretary
Congressman Dan Burton (IN-05)
office: 317.848.0201
mobile: 202.225.9560
burton.house.gov
twitter.com/repdanburton
youtube.com/congressmandanburton
john.donnelly@mail.house.gov

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From: Neal Puckett [mailto:neal@puckettfaraj.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 3:36 PM
To: Donnelly, John
Subject: Re: Burton-Rohrabacher-SEALs press conference

John,

McCabe will be with us, and possibly Keefe will come with McCabe. Happy to give an update on the case. Can keep it in soundbites and brief. McCabe (and maybe Keefe, if he comes) will be in civvies and must decline media contact. I'll get all this info to McCabe. I'll be coming over from the Army Navy Club by Metro, but Matt needs to know where to park. Any suggestions? He'll be taking his E-6 promotion exam that morning and has to drive up from VA Beach.

Neal

Neal A. Puckett, Esq

LtCol, USMC (Ret)

Puckett & Faraj, PC

Washington DC | Virginia

888.970.0005

www.puckettfaraj.com

The information contained in this electronic message is confidential, and is intended for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you are hereby notified that any use, distribution, copying of disclosure of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you received this communication in error, please notify Puckett & Faraj, P.C. at 888-970-0005 or via a return the e-mail to sender. You are required to purge this E-mail immediately without reading or making any copy or distribution.

On Mar 2, 2010, at 3:30 PM, Donnelly, John wrote:

We’ve set a 2:15pm meeting time in Rep. Burton’s office – room 2308 of the Rayburn House Office Building (it’s on the 3^rd floor).

About a dozen retired SEALs, and other retired special forces, will be there as well. Would you feel comfortable giving a short update on the case to the group? Seems like the best way to prep for the presser.

Will McCabe be with you? If so, should I add him to the media advisory, or does he have to lay low?

Other than that, please spread the word as best you can. It’s been hard to get reporters to commit to attending.

From: Neal Puckett [mailto:neal@puckettfaraj.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 3:16 PM
To: Donnelly, John
Subject: Re: Burton-Rohrabacher-SEALs press conference

John,

Please advise on meeting time for McCabe and me, along with bldg and room no.

Neal

Neal A. Puckett, Esq

LtCol, USMC (Ret)

Puckett & Faraj, PC

Washington DC | Virginia

888.970.0005

www.puckettfaraj.com

On Feb 3, 2010, at 10:45 AM, Donnelly, John wrote:

Neal – this is great news. Thank you for taking the time to join us. If possible, we’d love to have you meet with Dan and all the retired SEALs at 12:30pm on Feb. 11th in the Rayburn House Office Building, room 2308 (on the second floor). Everyone can meet and greet, and sort of get in sync for the presser.

If McCabe can make it, we’d be honored. (Please let him know his family is welcome to join in as well) With the pending trial, I’m sure his presence means a delicate situation, so please give us any instructions we might need.

From: Neal Puckett [mailto:neal@puckettfaraj.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 5:21 PM
To: Donnelly, John
Subject: Re: Burton-Rohrabacher-SEALs press conference

John,

Count me in along my assistant. Please provide instructions for when and where I should be to link up with the group. I'll let you know whether McCabe can attend.

I am honored to have been included.

Neal

Neal A. Puckett

LtCol, USMC (Ret)

Puckett & Faraj, PC

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 2, 2010, at 11:15, "Donnelly, John" <John.Donnelly@mail.house.gov> wrote:

Neal,

On Thursday, February 11 at 1:15pm, Reps. Burton and Rohrabacher, and (with the help of Human Events) up to a dozen retired SEALs, will host a press conference in the Capitol Building in support of McCabe, Keefe, and Huertas. Two of the SEALs will speak – the first being Master Chief Bill Bruhmuller (http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34844) and we’re waiting on confirmation for the second.

Here’s the order of events:

12:30 – SEALs w/ Jed Babbin of Human Events will meet with Rep. Burton in his office (2308 Rayburn)
1:00 – All will walk down to the press conference (HVC-201 in the capitol visitors center)

1:15 – press conference begins

Speakers:

Reps. Burton and Rohrabacher will open with separate statements, show the 100,000 or so signatures on their two petitions, and introduce the other speakers.

Burton

Rohrabacher

MC Bruhmuller

ranking officer

Burton/Rohrabacher/SEALs to take a few questions

We hope the image of all the SEALs supporting McCabe, Keefe, and Huertas will be a powerful message to the country. I’ll do my best to get as many reporters in the room as possible.

The door is wide open if McCabe, Keefe, Huertas, or you, would like to join in (in any capacity you/they wish). Let me know if you have any thoughts on how to make the press conference most effective and helpful.

Sincerely,

John

___________________________
John Donnelly | Press Secretary
Congressman Dan Burton (IN-05)
office: 317.848.0201
mobile: 202.225.9560
burton.house.gov
twitter.com/repdanburton
youtube.com/congressmandanburton
john.donnelly@mail.house.gov

Important Warning: The information in this email is the property of the United States Congress, confidential, and intended only for the use of the addressee. If the reader of this email is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Violators are subject to all penalties as allowed by Federal law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the related email.

From: Neal Puckett [mailto:neal@puckettfaraj.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 3:44 PM
To: Donnelly, John
Subject: Re: Rep. Burton Responds To Gen. Cleveland's Letter

Thanks, so much, John. Appreciate all that you are doing. All we really need now is for someone to tell MG Cleveland to dismiss the charges against the three SEALs. That's the best you can do. Otherwise, we're gearing up for trial at Norfolk on May 3rd.

V/r,

Neal A. Puckett, Esq

LtCol, USMC (Ret)

Puckett & Faraj, PC

Washington DC | Virginia

888.970.0005

www.puckettfaraj.com

The information contained in this electronic message is confidential, and is intended for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you are hereby notified that any use, distribution, copying of disclosure of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you received this communication in error, please notify Puckett & Faraj, P.C. at 888-970-0005 or via a return the e-mail to sender.  You are required to purge this E-mail immediately without reading or making any copy or distribution.

On Jan 7, 2010, at 12:12 PM, Donnelly, John wrote:

Good afternoon, Neal:

I can’t remember if I forwarded this press release and that attached letters to you or not. It’s been busy, to say the least.

Just a heads up, we revamped www.savethenavyseals.com and created a new video. We’re going to send our petition signatures to both Adm. Roughead and Gen. Cleveland on Monday – we’ve got around 32,000 Americans signed on.

The next item will be to look into the deposition of Mr. Abed – the Congressman would like to kick things into high gear if the SEALs are not afforded their Constitutional rights. We’ll compare that to Constitutional rights afforded to KSM and other terrorist being tried in NYC.

If there’s anything else we should be doing to help, or other things that would be more effective in reaching a positive outcome for McCabe, Keefe, and Huertas, please let me know. Also, I heard from CNN that they plan to extend a lot of coverage to this situation, possibly starting next week. Although, the producer said the government has requested a 2-month stay, which could affect when they ramp up the coverage. We’d be grateful for any insights on any sort of delay in the trial so we can coordinate our efforts in a more timely and effective way.

Best regards,

John

___________________________
John Donnelly | Press Secretary
Congressman Dan Burton (IN-05)
office: 202.225.2276
mobile: 202.225.9560
burton.house.gov
twitter.com/repdanburton
youtube.com/congressmandanburton
john.donnelly@mail.house.gov

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From: Congressman Burton Communications [mailto:john.donnelly@prospermail.us]
Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 1:48 PM
To: Donnelly, John
Subject: Rep. Burton Responds To Gen. Cleveland's Letter

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2010

CONTACT: John Donnelly
(202) 225-2276

Rep. Burton Responds To Maj. Gen. Cleveland's Letter

“In this case the American people's perception is that you are unfairly prosecuting three heroes based, at least in part, upon the word of an inhumane monster." – Rep. Burton

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN-05) sent a response to Major General Charles Cleveland's explanation for why three Navy SEALs are currently standing trial for their alleged mistreatment of terrorist leader Ahmed Hashim Abed. Rep. Burton's letter is as follows:

January 4, 2010

Major General Charles T. Cleveland
Commander, Special Operations Command Central
U.S. Central Command
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, FL 33621-5101

Dear General Cleveland:

I received your letter of December 15, 2009, regarding the pending courts-martial of Petty Officers Huertas, McCabe and Keefe; and I appreciate your office’s attempting to set the record straight and clarify what you describe as the “incomplete and factually inaccurate” press coverage of the situation. Having reviewed all of the material you provided, I still have to strongly disagree with the decision of your officers to pursue punishment of these Navy SEALs.

Ahmed Hashim Abed was one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq; responsible for the murders of innocent American civilians and numerous attacks on American and coalition forces. The injuries to Mr. Abed were, as you readily admit, relatively minor and certainly pale in comparison to the brutality of the crimes he helped perpetrate. While Petty Officers Huertas, McCabe and Keefe may have been wrong to not fully cooperate with investigators, it seems to me that the punishment still far exceeds the crime. In my opinion, prosecutorial discretion should have been exercised.

Beyond the fates of the three individual sailors, I have some general concerns about this case that are only reinforced by your letter. First, the fact that fellow U.S. service personnel initially raised the accusations against Petty Officers Huertas, McCabe and Keefe strongly suggests that we have created a culture within our Armed Forces where our military personnel are now more concerned about protecting themselves from legal jeopardy for every action or statement, than they are about fighting the enemy. Our troops and these SEALs need to be bold and decisive in combat; not hesitant and over-thinking every action for fear of prosecution. We are in a war that we must win against a determined, patient enemy who already believes we do not have the will to do what is necessary to defeat them.

Second, because of the intensive media coverage of this case – even if it is incomplete and factually inaccurate as you describe, this is the public’s perception of the case – the American people are outraged by the courts-martial of individuals who should be hailed as heroes. In fact, over 30,000 Americans have signed my online petition calling for an end to this prosecution. Perhaps even more alarming than the decline in morale this case has caused the country is the boost in morale and confidence that this case gives to Al Qaeda terrorists, who as I said, already believe America does not have the will or stomach to do what is necessary to defeat them.

General Cleveland, you are a distinguished soldier and former Special Forces operator yourself. I have the utmost respect for you personally. In this case the American people’s perception is that you are unfairly prosecuting three heroes based, at least in part, upon the word of an inhumane monster. Al-Qaeda’s own handbook instructs their operatives to allege detainee abuse if detained by American forces. In fact, al-Qaeda operatives are trained to self-inflict injuries for the sole purpose of accusing U.S. forces of abuse. We've seen repeated cases of this since the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan began. In my opinion, carrying forward these courts-martial will do our Nation and our Armed Forces more harm than good. I respectfully and strongly urge you to exercise your leadership authority, stop the impending trials and drop the charges against these American heroes.

I await your prompt response.

Sincerely,

                        Dan Burton
                        Member of Congress

CC:     Hon. Barack Obama, Hon. Robert Gates, Adm. Mike Mullen

ATTACHMENTS (to press release):

PDF copy of 12/15/09 letter from Maj. Gen. Cleveland to Rep. Dan Burton. Maj. Gen. Cleveland's letter was a response to a request from 40 Members of Congress, led by Rep. Burton, that the charges against the three Navy SEALs be dropped.

PDF copy of 1/4/10 letter from Rep. Burton to Maj. Gen Cleveland.

For more background, please click this link:
http://burton.house.gov/posts/40-congressmen-join-rep-burton-in-asking-brass-to-drop-charges-against-the-navy-seal-three

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