Senate candidate, a critic of tribes, never served in Vietnam

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D), long seen as a foe in Indian Country, never served in Vietnam despite having claimed otherwise, The New York Times reports.

Blumenthal, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, acknowledged he was wrong to say he "served" in Vietnam during a speech to veterans in 2008. He said he may have misspoken on other occasions but denied intentionally misleading anyone.

“My intention has always been to be completely clear and accurate and straightforward, out of respect to the veterans who served in Vietnam,” Blumenthal told the paper. He will hold a news conference today to address what his campaign called an "outrageous distortion" of his record.

Blumenthal has fought tribes on sovereignty, taxation, land-into-trust, gaming, labor and federal recognition matters for over a decade as state attorney general. He has filed briefs in cases that affect tribes nationwide and recently testified against a bill to fix the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar

Get the Story:
Candidate’s Words on Vietnam Service Differ From History (The New York Times 5/18)

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