Murtha Aide Threatened Me: GOP Opponent

Army vet says staffer warned about a possible court-martial
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 13, 2009 10:46 AM CDT
Murtha Aide Threatened Me: GOP Opponent
Democrat John Murtha defeated Bill Russell in his 2008 Congressional race, but the Republican says one of Murtha's aides threatened to recall him to military duty.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

John Murtha's 2008 Republican challenger has accused an aide to the Pennsylvania congressman of threatening to recall him to active military service so the Army could court-martial him, Politico reports. Participating in elective politics while on active duty is against military policy. Russell, who retired from the Army Reserves during the campaign, says John Hugya issued the threat in March, after saying something similar to Russell's commanding officer in January.

The Murtha camp calls the charges spurious, and ethics experts agree that although Hugya's statements might not be polite, they don't represent violations. "Look, there’s a certain rough-and-tumble in politics," says a former House counsel. No one in Murtha's office has contacted the Pentagon about starting court-martial proceedings against Russell.
(More John Murtha stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X