Kirk goes after spokesman in Seals ad
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk is labeling a spokesman in his opponent's ad as a Sept. 11 conspiracy theorist, though the 25-year-old from Peoria says that is not true.
"Let me get this straight," said Iraq war veteran Caleb Davis in a statement released through the campaign for Democrat Dan Seals. "I believe that America was attacked by Al Qaida terrorists on 9/11."
The Kirk campaign has singled out an article in a June edition of the local Peoria paper that says Davis attended a screening of a video that alleges the government was behind the Sept. 11 attacks.
The meeting occurred at a local library and Davis was reported as wearing a T-shirt that said "Investigate 911@911truth.org."
The article does not quote Davis explaining why he was there or what his beliefs where about Sept. 11 or conspiracy groups.
Kirk is using Davis' attendance at this screening as way to undermine the Seals ad, which blasts the Highland Park incumbent's record on veterans issues and his support for the Iraq war.
"I am disappointed that you would center your campaign on a spokesman who believes the U.S. government murdered nearly 3,000 of its own citizens," Kirk wrote in a letter to the Seals campaign that was circulated to the media.
The allegations persisted even after the Seals campaign issued a statement from Davis Tuesday that outlined why the veteran attended the meeting.
"I am not a member of this organization, nor have I ever been," the statement reads. "I attended an event because I was sent by my government to fight in a war that was based on lies, including the lie that Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks."
"I have worked on the behalf of families of the victims of 9/11," the statement continues. "Many of them have requested an additional investigation because they believe that the 9/11 Commission still left many questions unanswered."
In Seals' latest broadcast ad, Davis says Kirk was "irresponsible" in voting for the Iraq war and he claims Kirk "turned his back" on the troops.
Kirk is a Navy Reserve officer.
"I strongly believe that we must hold the politicians who sent us to war accountable for their tragic mistakes and that is why I will continue to speak out against the President and his enablers in Congress, including Mark Kirk," Davis' statement says.
The Seals campaign says Davis doesn't want to talk to the media. It has refused to provide contact information for Davis.
Contact information could not be located for him independent of the Seals campaign.
The Seals campaign says Davis served as an Army diver in Iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction in rivers and lakes. The campaign says he was honorably discharged in 2005.
Seals spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith said Kirk's attack on Davis is sidestepping the bigger issue about his Iraq war support.
"He is choosing to attack the messenger rather take accountability for his abysmal record on these issues," Smith said.