When Congressman Tom MacArthur first attacked Andy Kim’s resume, the attempt failed so miserably that a reporter had to ask a political scientist if the “backfire” would hurt MacArthur’s chances in November. Now, retired Colonel James Seaton III and Deputy Secretary of State Tom Nides have further eviscerated MacArthur’s absurd claims.
“Congressman MacArthur has again been exposed for the dishonest politician that he is,” said DCCC Spokesman Evan Lukaske. “As Colonel Seaton and Deputy Secretary of State Nides affirmed, Andy Kim served our country with distinction, and was key to supporting our military leaders in Afghanistan. MacArthur’s desperate attacks are a pathetic attempt to distract voters from the real issue: MacArthur’s blind obedience to the special interests and donors sending him campaign cash.”
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Former bosses back Kim credentials | NJ Globe
By Nikita Biryukov
June 6, 2018
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/former-bosses-back-kim-credentials/
Rep. Tom MacArthur and his Democratic challenger Andy Kim are again brawling over the latter’s qualifications, but this time, Kim has some help from his former bosses.
Backing Kim’s credentials, which MacArthur’s campaign has said the former Obama staffer inflated, are retired Col. James Seaton III, formerly a senior advisor to David Petraeus, and Tom Nides, a former deputy secretary of state.
“I hired Andy because he was one of the best and brightest our Nation had to offer,” Seaton said. “His tireless, critically important work directly supported General Petraeus in making strategic-level decisions as the head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Andy Kim’s service to our country should be applauded not attacked.”
At issue are a 2011 internal State Department email in which Kim is referred to as a notetaker and changes made to Kim’s campaign biography after MacArthur’s campaign levelled the original charges in early May.
The 2011 meeting was attended by then-Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, two ambassadors and a stable of senior State Department officials, according to the email.
At the time, Kim was part of a U.S. detachment sent to Afghanistan, where Petraeus was commander of the International Security Assistance force.
“Andy was the author of all the official preparation material for the high-level talks and was the point person for the State Department coordinating the Foreign Minister’s entire visit to Washington,” Nides said. “I asked him to take on the critical role of doing the official write up of that meeting so it would become a road map for our political engagement with Iraq going forward.”
[…] “Tom MacArthur can try to distract voters from his horrendous voting record by attacking my service,” Kim said in a statement. “But, I can say with certainty that Congressman MacArthur hasn’t the slightest idea about what it’s like to sit in the Situation Room with Secretaries of State and Defense and four-star generals making life-and-death decisions that would stop an imminent genocide and save the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people.”
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