Top Gay Activist Blogger Goes Public with Investigation Into Senator Mitch McConnell

Top Gay Activist Blogger Goes Public with Investigation Into Senator Mitch
McConnell
Mike Rogers, Founder of Proud of Who We Are, Calls on Senate Minority Leader
to Produce Undisclosed Documents About His Abrupt Military Departure

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- America's top gay activist blogger,
Mike Rogers, went public today with his investigation into Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell (KY). Rogers called on the Senator to release his
military records -- including documentation of the reason McConnell was
discharged from the Army in the midst of the Vietnam War -- one day after the
Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Kentucky's former Attorney General Greg
Stumbo came forward with questions of his own for McConnell.
Rogers has made a career of investigating suspected, closeted, anti-gay
public officials, including Senator Larry Craig (ID) and Reps. Mark Foley (FL)
and Ed Schrock (VA). He is the founder of Proud of Who We Are, an
organization that encourages closeted, anti-gay politicians to serve proudly
as gay Americans, regardless of their political party.
Rogers has taken six trips to Kentucky in the last several months to
investigate long-standing questions about McConnell's military service.
Rogers has visited numerous towns, spoken with dozens of people, and spent
hours pouring over archived public records.
Rogers has discovered inconsistencies in McConnell's public Army records
and is the first investigative reporter to note the differing answer to a
section of the records titled "Transcript of Court Martial." While every
other section of McConnell's records without information states "n/a," this
particular section uniquely states, "not on file." "Alone," said Rogers,
"this court martial information may be insignificant, but it warrants further
investigation when coupled with my other research."
"I've investigated enough to conclude that there are serious questions
surrounding Senator McConnell's military service, and I think Kentuckians
deserve answers," Rogers continued. "It's worth noting that next month
Senator McConnell could become the highest-ranking Republican at the federal
level. To have an anti-gay politician as the standard bearer of his party
when there are unanswered questions about his military service is something I
think the American people simply will not tolerate. After all, this is the
same man who threw Larry Craig under the bus while supporting confessed
adulterer David Vitter. Suspicions about McConnell were raised then, and he's
yet to answer them."
The records Rogers has been able to obtain indicate that McConnell
enlisted in the U.S. Army in March of 1967 and was abruptly discharged four
months later for a minor medical condition. His discharge was expedited by
the claim that he needed to be released quickly to attend New York University.
NYU records indicate that McConnell never applied to the school, and at the
time of his discharge he had already earned a law degree from the University
of Kentucky.
Rogers has also reviewed phone records showing a flurry of calls from the
office of McConnell's patron in the U.S. Senate at the time, Senator John
Sherman Cooper, in the days immediately preceding McConnell's discharge. The
calls abruptly stopped shortly before McConnell was discharged.
In addition to repeatedly refusing to publicly address his military
record, Senator McConnell makes no mention of his time in the service on
either his Senate or campaign websites.
"Senator McConnell's story just doesn't add up," said Rogers. "I
encourage him to consider facts and the truth his allies, not a problem. A
speedy release of his records and openness with the public is the only thing
that will help clear this matter up once and for all."
The Human Rights Campaign has given McConnell a zero rating for his
anti-gay rights voting agenda in the Senate. His uneven treatment of the sex
scandals of Republican Senators Larry Craig and David Vitter received a great
deal of attention last year. The New York Times reported that McConnell
threatened Craig with a far-reaching ethics committee investigation and
embarrassing public hearings about his sexual encounters if Craig refused to
resign. McConnell also stripped Craig of his positions on powerful Senate
committees. Vitter, who paid for services from a female prostitute, faced no
similar reprimands from the Senate Minority Leader.
SOURCE ProudofWhoWeAre.org

Meghan O'Shaughnessy for ProudofWhoWeAre.org, +1-703-302-8383