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Title: It's who you know: How a soldier convicted of murder got Trump to pardon him
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URL Source: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ ... murder-got-trump-to-pardon-him
Published: May 12, 2019
Author: Steven Nelson
Post Date: 2019-05-12 07:38:28 by Ada
Keywords: None
Views: 829
Comments: 16
Former Army 1st Lt. Michael Behenna beat the odds Monday, becoming the 8th person pardoned by President Trump after a campaign by supporters who recognized that “it’s who you know" that matters most. Now an Oklahoma farmhand, Behenna was released from prison in 2014 after serving five years of a murder sentence for shooting an Iraqi roadside bomb suspect, whom he stripped naked during what he said was an unauthorized interrogation. At the time of Behenna’s prosecution, his mother Vicki Behenna was an assistant U.S. attorney in Oklahoma. Her boss was John Richter, a prominent Republican attorney, and then a U.S. attorney, who took a long-term interest and led the pardon push. Senior Political Correspondent David Drucker on the expanded Washington Examiner magazine Watch Full Screen to Skip Ads Richter formerly led the Justice Department’s criminal division and said he knew that the department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney is a graveyard for clemency bids, so he sought to leverage contacts to reach Trump directly. “I never thought that this was going to be considered through a linear process through which I submit the paperwork through the Department of Justice. That’s not the way the world works, unfortunately,” Richter told the Washington Examiner. [Related: Trump says he will release more inmates: 'A lot of people' jailed for 'no reason'] “The common thread is you have to build external support, then you have got to find the right individuals who have relationships who can pick up the phone,” Richter said. The campaign relied heavily on support from Oklahoma politicians. But it’s unclear who made the pitch directly to Trump, persuading him to issue clemency for the first time in 10 months. Richter said he has “sneaking suspicions” about who spoke with Trump but would not name them to respect their privacy. “Obviously, someone spoke to the president,” he said. "It's not likely anyone you have ever heard of, but like most of these processes, it is through word of mouth, and through people who know people. And that's been what has been required for a lot of pardons across a lot of administrations,” Richter said. In-person asks are powerful opportunities with Trump. He released from prison bank fraudster Sholom Rubashkin after an appeal over lunch from Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, and he freed drug convict Alice Johnson after meeting in the Oval Office with Kim Kardashian. Many public figures who supported the pardon did not speak with Trump directly, including Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter. Hunter said he sent two letters to Trump, guided in part by a desire to support military members, but he only heard from the White House on Monday afternoon, with an aide asking for Behenna’s phone number to convey the news. “The Behennas were persistent. This has been a long haul,” Hunter said. “Their tireless approach to vindicating their family member has been heroic in a sense.” From the outset, the family argued Behenna, 24 at the time of the shooting, was actually innocent, arguing in appeals the victim lunged and that exculpatory ballistics evidence was concealed. A White House statement noted political support, but named only Hunter and former Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin. Fallin, who left office in January after eight years, was a congresswoman during Behenna’s prosecution, and was acquainted with Vicki and her husband Scott, who worked for the FBI. She wrote Trump a letter but said she can’t recall speaking with Trump in person about the case. “I had lots of conversations with the family,” Fallin said. “From my standpoint, you had an American soldier who is dealing with friends and colleagues who were killed by an al-Qaeda suspect … and according to Michael, he felt he acted in self-defense.” Through a pardon, Behenna is able to vote and own guns, but his mother said he’s also interested in adopting children and volunteering. Vicki Behenna told the Washington Examiner she was lucky to have Richter’s Washington savvy. “I had been contacting people I knew here in Oklahoma who might have an avenue to the president. None of that was fruitful,” she said. “I'm smart enough to understand that if you just go through the pardon office, sometimes paperwork gets lost.” Behenna’s pardon was instantly controversial, with the American Civil Liberties Union calling it “a presidential endorsement of a murder.“ Vicki Behenna said she is upset to see negative reaction, saying, “Michael is not a Muslim hater. He loves the Iraqi people.” Vicki Behenna, now working as executive director of the Oklahoma Innocence Project, said she left her job in the U.S. attorney’s office because of her son’s case. “I couldn’t stomach prosecuting people anymore. I understood what it feels like,” she said. ““It has completely changed our perspective of the criminal justice system.”
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#1. To: Ada (#0)
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡ "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." -- Thomas Jefferson
Considering that our grunts were shipped over there to kill as many of their grunts as possible, what is the problem? It's OK if we bomb towns and villages, and drone-strike wedding parties and funerals, but a crime if one soldier pulls the trigger? “The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡ "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." -- Thomas Jefferson
Good point. They should have made him kneel down and then beheaded him, while videoing the entire event for worldwide broadcast. Not a problem there. “The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
From experience... During war, no matter how large or small, it is often laid on the line, if NEED BE, YOU WILL GIVE YOUR LIFE.....I was very young but walked out of that first briefing a very olde man. Had the need arisen WE WOULD HAVE DONE WHAT WAS REQUIRED.
Being a roadside bomber is a hazardous occupation that doesn't lead to a pension.
“With the exception of Whites, the rule among the peoples of the world, whether residing in their homelands or settled in Western democracies, is ethnocentrism and moral particularism: they stick together and good means what is good for their ethnic group." If you get caught setting up those IEDs it can lead to instant death too. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
Isn't the point of boot camp to break down the troops so that they can be remade into order-obeying robots; or something like that?
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
Fighting for our freedoms!
Loddy, Cyni, I may be wrong, but as I understand it, most soldiers in WW2 and maybe Korea didn't fire their weapons, even under combat conditions. A lot of the fellas killed allegedly still had cosmoline in the barrels of their weapons. The goob realized this and had most of the grunts completely dehumanized by the time of the war in Vietnam. Worked good, we brushed them slopes aside. Right? Most people have a strong aversion to killing other folks. It's hard to overcome. At least until FaceBook, Twitter, and whatever they're infecting the kiddos with. Godfrey Smith: Mike, I wouldn't worry. Prosperity is just around the corner. Fighting Godfrey Smith: Mike, I wouldn't worry. Prosperity is just around the corner. True. When asked if he ever shot anyone in the war, our WWI Battle of Verdun and others trench-warfare grandfather, replied, "I hope and pray not." “The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
That is attempt and concept. However it is not reality. Even a dog will bite his trainer when he has had enough. Military is a game of survival, there is a minority of professionals that will fight to the last drop of YOUR blood, they are called lifers. Then there are the short timers, the majority, that despise the entire system. However, when duty calls, every man will step forward. When Doolittle raided Tokyo, at the last minute every man was offered chance to drop out, no questions asked. Lifer or short timer, every man went. Many to their deaths.
To answer your question, there is an excellent book available about the life of a grunt in the Korean war. The title is, The Valleys of Death, by Richardson. Read it and you will never forget it.
The key word is most. Some folks like killing. Some like killing out of revenge and others do it for cash and couldn't care less. Some just like the killing itself. Officers know who these guys are and pick them out for "special jobs." Did those chopper pilots in the Baghdad video Manning leaked have itchy trigger fingers? “Come on, let us shoot,” said one voice. www.reuters.com/article/u...s/leaked-u-s-video-shows- deaths-of-reuters-iraqi-staffers-idUSTRE6344FW20100406
The video game aspect of "remote" killings de-humanize the reality of it all.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#2. To: ghostdogtxn, Ada, 4 (#1)
#3. To: Lod (#2)
#4. To: ghostdogtxn (#3)
#5. To: Lod (#4)
#6. To: Ada (#0)
-Alex Kurtagic 
#7. To: X-15 (#6)
Being a roadside bomber is a hazardous occupation that doesn't lead to a pension.
#8. To: Cynicom (#5)
#9. To: Lod (#2)
#10. To: Lod, Cynicom, 4um (#8)
Isn't the point of boot camp to break down the troops so that they can be remade into order-obeying robots; or something like that?
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#11. To: Ada (#9)
Fighting for our freedoms!
for [to take away] our freedoms!
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#12. To: Esso (#10)
Most people have a strong aversion to killing other folks. It's hard to overcome.
#13. To: Lod (#8)
Isn't the point of boot camp to break down the troops so that they can be remade into order-obeying robots; or something like that?
#14. To: Esso (#10)
#15. To: Esso (#10)
Most people have a strong aversion to killing other folks.
#16. To: randge (#15)
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