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Brownlee Baggage Website Goes Live
By Greg L | 6 May 2009 | Virginia Politics | 21 Comments
Someone’s got a big axe to grind with Attorney General candidate John Brownlee, and snapped up the domain name johnlbrownlee.com in order to do it. I’ve got to hand it to Brian Gentry, the obscure political activist who owns this domain, this is citizen politics at it’s finest. Vetting a little-known primary candidate with factual information prior to their potential selection as a nominee is the kind of citizen journalism we need a whole lot more of given the sad state of the drive-by mainstream media.
The site discusses the way Brownlee performed in his last job as U.S. Attorney, a rather troubling issue of Brownlee serving as U.S. Attorney while on active duty with the Army Reserves, and how Brownlee may have engaged in the same behavior that another federal official serving in the Reserves was convicted in a court martial, among other things. Virginia Virtucon describes this disclosure of political baggage as “The John Brownlee Samsonite Store“, and it is certain to result in a lot of pointed questions from convention delegates. It should. A lot of this information is extremely disconcerting, and would without a doubt become ammunition for Democrats to use in a general election.
If you want a good indicator of the importance of these disclosures, just watch the degree to which folks will try attack Brian Gentry for putting up this website. Unfortunately in this political climate, it’s not uncommon at all to see the individuals bringing this information to light to get attacked more than the information they provide is addressed. I salute him for the information he’s provided convention delegates with and the way he has provided it, as well as getting this out there well before the convention starts so it can be evaluated. Gentry could have dropped this as an eleventh-hour attack, instead he left us time to verify the information and discuss the importance of it.
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21 Comments
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Kind of reminds me of the origins of this site. Assertions about Brownlee’s fitness to serve, electability, and a plethora of stupid decisions sounds a lot like what readers found here back in 2005.
Wonder if Brownlee will get Fasil Gill to sue Brian Gentry? Perhaps Greg could lend Gentry the BVBL Battlecry?
Greg, old buddy, close friend, compatriot, fellow conservative, for whom I’ve got the utmost respect, I beg to differ with Mr. Gentry’s (and, apparently your) assessment. The law under which the MO senator was prosecuted contains one little word that Mr. Gentry conveniently leaves out of his attempted smear. That word is “partisan.” The purpose of the law under which the MO senator was convicted is to preclude PARTISAN political activity. His act of voting on a controversial bill in the Missouri senate was rightfully considered a partisan activity. Consequently, he was court-martialed and convicted. You cannot be a politician and a soldier. The two just don’t mix.
Mr. Brownlee’s duties in prosecuting criminals can hardly be considered partisan. Those duties are ministerial, having nothing to do with voting on an issue, electing officials, supporting a party etc.
Mr. Brownlee did not engage in partisan political activity as the MO senator did. There is no basis for your statement that he, “[M]ay have engaged in the same behavior that another federal official serving in the Reserves was convicted in a court martial.” This is a slime job on a good man. Mr. Brownlee retired honorably from the US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and should be lauded for that service, not vilified because someone thinks he maybe might have technically violated a law.
It’s crap like this that deters good people from entering service, or, if they already are in service, from becoming involved in issues. We should be encouraging both activities.
Let’s debate the issues. Not this horse hockey.
Greg
Bryan Gentry is a shameless muck raker jwhom you are aiding and abetting.
This is the kind of “citizen journalism” we DO NOT NEED.
I wholeheartedly agree with Mr Duecaster. It is CRAP!!!
After re-reading
Oh, did you say “factual information”???
Tillie,
How do you get this information is crap? Heck, I have to hand it to Mr. Gentry for taking the time to do what the Dems and the Mainstream Media won’t do.
Last minute desparation from the floundering Cuccinelli campaign.
At least Brownlee served his country honorably. Has Cuccinelli released his “discharge” papers yet?
Loudoun Insider,
Is this all you got? I believe Cuccinelli explained his discharge. Gee, you can tell the Brownlee campaign is experiencing a sense of desperation, when they send you out to do the attacks. How about talking about what makes the candidate qualified for the job?
I speak for myself at my own behest, OBL (nice initials you got there!). Cuccinelli explained his discahrge with no supporting documentation. This hit site makes BS allegations about Brownlee and his Army service, that’s pathetic.
Speaking of Faisal Gill, as the first commenter does, remember that Cuccinelli was a big supporter of Gill, and has taken money from the shady Safa Group companies, as recently as last year. Both GWB and Hillary returned donations from the Safa Group after they were linked to several terrorist entities, but not Cuccinelli. He was number two in donations from them behind Dick Black, and stated that they donated to him because they share the same values. Nice.
Moving to qualifications, running an US Attorney office makes Brownlee a lot more qualified than Cuccinelli to be a truly effective AG, rather than a platform for furthering a political career.
I keep hearing this line about how having been a U.S. Attorney Brownlee has superior qualifications. Why is that?
My understanding is that the A.G. hardly ever deals with criminal cases. To me, Brownlees relative lack of civil litigation experience as a result of being a U.S. Attorney would seem to detract from his qualifications.
The AG office has a sizable criminal division. It is in effect a good sized law office, something Brownlee has experience managing. Foster has extensive managerial experience as well at a large law firm. Cuccinelli has a tiny law practice.
US Attorneys manage a wide variety of litigation, from criminal to civil, on behalf of the US Government.
Cuccinelli obviously knows that he has nothing left to lose, and its kind of sad that he will be remembered this way.
I accidentally hit post before I was finished. Anyway, I am sorry Cuccinelli is writing the next to last chapter in his political career this way.
Loudoun Insider and Zach,
You claim the Cuccinelli campaign had something to do with the Gentry site. Show us proof.
Duecaster,
Read the Gentry site again. I believe Gentry was not talking about “partisan” politics because that was not the issue. The issue was instead how John Brownlee potentially violated posse comitatus by being a military officer engaged in civilian law enforcement.
As an aside, this is not a slight against Gentry, but I don’t think anyone should take Gentry’s site (or anyone’s) at face value on an issue as serious as this until there are more documented facts to prove something one way or the other.
All,
I have worked with Ken Cuccinelli for several years on legislation in the General Assembly, and although we don’t agree on everything, I have seen only a man who has stood up for principle. Consistently, he has bucked his own party members (when he was fighting for eminent domain reform — just one example), jeopardized his committee assignments, and risked his political career (fighting to preserve the 2nd Amendment — another example) when principles had to trump party or reelection chances. You may not agree with his principles, but suggesting that he would compromise his integrity for political gain just doesn’t fly.
Maligning Brian Gentry from the outset for putting up this information on his Web site is not right.
There is nothing wrong with you, me, Gentry, or even Foster or Cuccinelli putting out relevant, factual information about a public figure seeking higher office, even if it is unflattering information. If you think it’s wrong, you shouldn’t be blogging, because that’s what you do every day. I went back and looked at the site, and Gentry provides lots of external citations for his claims. While that does not make the whole case, it certainly gives some compelling backup.
I certainly believe the information is relevant. It is about the possibility of a Constitutional violation at worst, and a Democrat-exploitable Achilles heal for the entire Republican ticket at best.
If the Gentry site is truthful, you shouldn’t have a problem with someone bringing the truth to light. If it is proven that the information and the claims made were false, THEN it’s time to malign EVERYONE involved in its publication. But until you have reasonable suspicion to believe it’s false, I don’t see how you can attack Gentry.
“You may not agree with his principles, but suggesting that he would compromise his integrity for political gain just doesn’t fly.”
Then why is he raising money for his Senate campaign then transfering it all to his AG campaign??? How is that “principled”?
Or how about during the Frederick mess where he said he was not taking a stance for “selfish political reasons”?
He’s as political as anyone.
And let’s not forget the Safa Group connection. Here’s BVBL on the topic:
http://www.bvbl.net/index.php/2007/01/15/the-safa-group/
Brian: Your defense of Gentry and Cuccinelli is quite odd. First, the website takes shots at Brownlee’s wife and father. That alone is unusual for a GOP primary. Are you aware that Brownlee’s father earned two Silver Stars and a Purple Heart for his actions in Vietnam? And, Brownlee’ wife was a successful reporter in Roanoke who left the station after her second baby was born. How do you defend the Cuccinelli’s of the world who malign and tear down American heroes and stay-at-home moms?
As for Brownlee himself, I think it is interesting that he was deployed in 2003, but served as US Attorney until 2008. Don’t you think if he had done all the terrible things alleged by Cuccinelli and Gentry that he would have been removed from office? Wouldn’t some form of disciplinary action been taken if there was any credibility to Cuccinelli’s claims? Of course, none was taken and Brownlee served as US Attorney for 7 years.
Cuccinelli is clearly worried about Brownlee and probably understands what is going to happen at the Convention. If he will attack a candidate’s wife and father, I can’t imagine what the next few weeks will bring from KC’s camp.
James,
You said, “First, the website takes shots at Brownlee’s wife and father….How do you defend the Cuccinelli’s of the world who malign and tear down American heroes and stay-at-home moms?” and “Don’t you think if he had done all the terrible things alleged by Cuccinelli and Gentry that he would have been removed from office?”
Again, where is your proof that Cuccinelli had anything to do with this site? There are LOTS of people out there who have huge problems with Brownlee and who don’t want to see him as AG, just like you have huge problems with Cuccinelli. You make allegations based on no facts. At least Gentry backed up several of his claims with outside media sources.
And a quick search of the Gentry site for the words “wife” and “Lee Ann” shows a few factual references to her as his wife, but none of them taking shots at her. Quit fabricating.
Hey folks,
I wrote the JohnLBrownlee.com articles. You don’t like them? Email me.
John Brownlee is a faux conservative. His only credential is his claim to have been a prosecutor. All I did was look at his record as a prosecutor and his record as an Army officer.
He screwed up. Royally.
You guys talk like he served in Iraq or something. He was a white house social aide. He went to Ranger and Airborne schools, true, but he never served in a Ranger or Airborne unit. I’m proud of him for graduating, but he is not a combat veteran like his honorable father. Yes, I said honorable father. No hits against Les Brownlee. He was a good man. Too bad I can’t say the same of his son.
The fact is, John Brownlee has been the face of over-reaching federal government for the past ten years. Does that qualify him as a conservative?
I totally agree with the death penalty. I’m glad Brownlee advocates it. Hi mentor John Warner did too. But John Warner proved to be a thorn in the side of the Republican party repeatedly.
As far as I can tell John Brownlee is likely to be John Warner Jr. He has inherited Warner’s political machine, and that is where is support is coming from.
What does that mean?
Warner was:
- Pro gay rights
- Anti-gun - sponsored re-introduction of the assault weapons ban
- Rode the fence on abortion (neither side considered him an advocate)
- Opposed Bork’s nomination
- Broke ranks several times when Republicans were about to get their way in the Clinton administration
- Pro Death Penalty
Brownlee is pro-death penalty - just like John Warner. Good for him. That isn’t enough.
He prosecuted a 78 year old WWII veteran named Ronald Testerman for selling his private guns. At trial, Testerman was found not-guilty on all the counts but one - not having a license to sell guns. Brownlee asked the judge to sentence Testerman, 78 years old, WWII Veteran, to three years in prison.
This guy is not on our side.
Brian
Looks like John Brownlee has made it onto Wikileaks:
http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/John_Brownlee_call_for_duty_to_US_Army_service%2C_16_Jan_2009
http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/John_Brownlee_early_release_from_duties_in_US_Army%2C_1_May_2009
Given his campaign hype about being a military veteran, the second document there is very interesting. Clearly, he was taken off of active duty during the war after only serving 3 months, while the other members of his unit served out a full year.
That’s not exactly a military record to brag about.