According to the chief of US Army Public Affairs Maj. General Anthony Cucolo, Major Thomas McCuin has been suspended from his media relations duties and temporarily re-assigned while an investigation is underway to determine whether or not he used his post at the Pentagon to influence a United States Senate race in Massachusetts. McCuin in an email acquired by me, admitted to providing erroneous information back to a Vincent Errichetti who was once a deputy director of the MassGOP working for McCuin. McCuin is alleged to have reported this erroneous information to Errichetti regarding former elite soldier Jeff Beatty who is running for U.S. Senate as a Republican against incumbent Democrat Senator John Kerry.

The matter came to Mr. Beatty's attention last January when he received a call from a Master SGT O'Donnell of the Army HRC. An inquiry was made regarding his service record DD-214 and awards. When Mr. Beatty in turned asked who the inquirer was, O'Donnell responded he would call the Chief of Public Affairs Office, where his request to investigate had originated and get back to Beatty. When O”Donnell called back a few minutes later he told Beatty the request had originated for “A senior Massachusetts Political Figure”.  Beatty said that was not enough information and after additional attempts by O’Donnell were made to get the name of the “Senior Massachusetts Political Figure” O’Donnell suggested Beatty call Major McCuin at the Chief of Public Affairs in Washington who had originated the investigation.  Major Thomas McCuin, is the former Political Director of the Massachusetts GOP and although an Active Duty Army Officer is also according to his March 2, 2008 Blog  an active political consultant in Massachusetts who enjoys “devastating political attacks”.


Beatty, a former Delta Force assault team commander, former CIA counter-terrorism expert and FBI terrorist consultant/agent, has been accused of embellishing his service record in several key Massachusetts conservative websites by  anonymous bloggers and emails. Coincidentally, these attacks came the same weekend his GOP opponent Jim Ogonowski announced his candidacy.  A discussion of the split in the GOP can be found at a poplular Massachusetts GOP website called Redmassgroup.com

Here is the letter from Maj. McCuin. I have underlined the more interesting and contradicting remarks:

Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE 
January 16, 2008
 
Mr. Beatty,

Thank you for your call today. I'm glad to have the opportunity to clear things up. Pardon the length of my reply, but I want to be as specific as possible. I've also had a bit of time to collect my thoughts. 

You correctly surmised that it was a conversation with Vincent Errichetti that started this research. I feel as if I'm betraying my friend by disclosing that, but my conversation with him began this process, so you have a right to know.

Vincent worked as the deputy political director of the MassGOP when I was the political director. He and I were catching up with each other on the evening of Monday, 07 Jan 08. Most of our conversation was simply two old friends handicapping the impending N.H. primary. Towards the end of our conversation, your candidacy came up. I had frankly never heard of you; I all but left Massachusetts at the start of 2006. Vincent let me know of his doubts regarding your claims in general, thinking they were a bit vague. Based on a cursory look at your web site, I agreed with him (personally) that it didn't quite add up to me.

I told him that if I could find out any information, I would.

His suspicions constitute an rumor of stolen valor, which does not require a media query to research. I did ask him to e-mail me a request for this information to make it official, but to date I have not received one. (As I understand it, without such a formal request, we are under no obligation to release any information). We do not need the formal request to begin looking into the allegations, however, and that is what has happened here.

The following afternoon, I sent an e-mail message to the public affairs officer at Human Resources Command outlining where I thought things didn't line up. Specifically, I inaccurately connected your Delta service with your involvement in the Black Hawk shoot-down. As I read your information, I initially believed that "the first Black Hawk shot down" referred to CW4 Cliff Walcott's helicopter, the first of two to go down in Mogadishu on 03 Oct 93. You will recall that his Black Hawk was carrying four Delta operators aboard when it was hit by an RPG. 

I thought that any Delta operator involved in this action would have received an award higher than an MSM (the highest award mentioned on your site), especially given that in a combat zone, the MSM is replaced by the Bronze Star. I did, however, say that it was possible that you were referring to the first Black Hawk to be shot down, period -- which apparently you are. This message began the research to clarify the issue.

As of today, these questions and the preliminary answers have gone no further than my contact with HRC, and HRC's contact with you. Let me assure you that I have discussed this only with those officials in HRC who are working the issue. I have not even discussed it with anyone here in my office at the Pentagon. To release anything prematurely would be irresponsible and unprofessional. Accordingly, I have not and would not do so in your case for three reasons: 1) the HRC research is incomplete; 2) It has become increasingly clear that, although the research is incomplete, you in fact have not embellished your record; and 3) I never received a formal written request for the information.

Stolen valor is a serious issue which requires prompt research, but any such accusations also deserve careful scrutiny. I eagerly await the final results of your kind cooperation with MSG O'Donnell so we can put the issue to rest. Based on information received to date, I now believe you have done nothing wrong and I hope to see that opinion officially confirmed soon.

Regarding the recent e-mail that publicly alleges you've embellished your record: I firmly believe that any such suspicions predated my conversation with Vincent and that the conversation with him did not provide sufficient confirmation of his doubts to warrant such a letter. I do not personally believe Vincent would launch such an allegation without evidence to back-up the claim, and your two reports to the contrary not withstanding, I have a hard time believing he was responsible for the message. Anonymous attacks simply aren't his style. I've never known him to shy away from a confrontation (as you've experienced).

With the war playing such a prominent role in the current debate, these types of accusations have unfortunately become part and parcel of political campaigns (witness the issues surrounding both President Bush and Sen. Kerry in 2004), and our primary responsibility in these situations is to protect the integrity of those who have served honorably.

As an officer currently on active duty, I cannot use my position to influence political races, so I would appreciate if our conversations did not find their way into public material. I would be happy to help you resolve this quietly, but I have no desire to be drawn into a public "he said, he said" argument. I'm sure your understand that we have the duty to follow-up on every one of these allegations. I believe everyone involved has acted professionally and with both your interests and the Army's interests at heart. I understand that you wish to use this information in your discussions with Mr. Torkildsen and Mr. Ogonowski, but I hope you use it only to settle this issue as gentlemen.

I believe I've been pretty thorough, but please feel free to call me again if you have further questions.

Respectfully,
MAJ Thomas McCuin

Public Affairs Officer

OCPA Media Relations Division


In response to the letter, the Beatty campaign immediately began their own investigation and insisted on the utmost co-operation from the Pentagon. Mr. Beatty is in contact with the highest powers in the military regarding this issue. A full military investigation is nearing completion by the Inspector General.

It is clear that some stealthy but influential people within the Massachusetts GOP do not want Jeff Beatty to get the nomination despite his credentials and the polls taken such as Zogby which indicated that Beatty would match up shockingly well against Senator John Kerry. The most obvious question is 'why not' but there are also others. What motivation would certain Republican operatives have for seeking to undermine Beatty's actual military record?  Stay tuned.