Blake Hall
An Illinois state senator is in hot water after being accused, once again, of exaggerating his military record to collect votes for an upcoming election.
According to various reports (and the following screenshot) Senator Mark Kirk’s campaign embellished his military record, calling him a vet of the Iraq War when he served, in the United States, in the Navy Reserves, and never went overseas.
More from CNN:
While Kirk campaign officials said it was a staff error, the issue resembles the controversy that nearly caused his 2010 Senate campaign to implode. Moreover, Kirk is now running for reelection against Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a military veteran who lost both of her legs during combat in Iraq.
Kirk campaign officials said the webpage was not meant to be made public, saying that it was supposed to be a private site while edits were being made to the page.
Campaign officials said a third-party vendor had drafted the language that they said had not been vetted or reviewed by the senator’s staff. The language, they acknowledged, was inaccurate, saying it would be changed when the campaign began a more direct push to court military veterans.
In the past, Kirk — a 23-year Navy vet — has also “misstated” that he fought in Desert Storm, was fired for flying recon missions over Iraq, and was once named Navy’s intelligence officer of the year. All facts he later confirmed to be untrue.