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CAP Insights gets it wrong

By Jenny Cox, News of the Force-Tampa

A Web site known as CAP Insights, which regularly attacks the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and its leaders, has the following concerning CAP Brig. Gen. Rich Anderson, a retired U.S. Air Force officer who is a member of the CAP's Board of Governors (BoG) and was recently elected to the Virginia State Legislature:

"Get to Know Rich Anderson - Mr. Anderson did win his seat in the Virginia House, but some instances from his past and his current situation with feeding insight to Amelia S. (Amy) Courter, during investigations against her, are quite telling - as to where his head is at. We'd like to use the old saying from CAP members that whatever Mr. Anderson does in Virginia doesn't affect most of the rest of us - the reality is that he is in a political position, giving him access to corrupt the minds of other, and future politicians - and that can have devastating consequences for a very long time!

"Second shoe drops in 51st Virginia Delegate Race: Republican now facing criminal investigation. Story by: DLCC, Nathan Thomas. Link <- this is a link to the story below at the source.

"Republican Rich Anderson, who's challenging incumbent Delegate Paul Nichols in Prince William County, is now facing a criminal investigation over a campaign mailer that revealed Nichols' complete Social Security Number to nearly 15,000 district residents:

"Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert has asked that a special prosecutor investigate claims that a campaign mailer wrongly released the personal information of Del. Paul F. Nichols.

"Whatever happens in the investigation, this is clearly not the sort of publicity Anderson wants with only two weeks left in the campaign.

"But this story is not over yet. The Manassas News and Messenger has now blasted Anderson for both the release of Nichols' Social Security Number and the false claims made by Anderson's mailers: Even if the Anderson campaign felt it necessary to launch this attack on Nichols, it should have at least had the decency and respect to keep Nichols' personal information off two mailers that were sent to many homes. In this day of identity theft, that action reaches a new low. In fact, Nichols was forced to cancel credit cards because of the mailers. These mailers are just another example of the depths to which politics has fallen, and they cross the line from mean-spirited into harmful.

"Rich Anderson owes Paul Nichols an apology. Unfortunately, an apology will not be forthcoming, as Anderson still 'doesn't feel he has done anything wrong.' Don't expect an apology for Anderson's lack of class either."

Of course, that story is old news - it's from last fall, before Rich Anderson was elected to the Legislature. And, although CAP Insights apparently quotes Anderson, it appears that they've never spoken to him.

So while CAP Insights did get this part of the story right, it used a story over 8 months old to attack Anderson, but failed to disclose the "rest of the story."

In a message sent to CAP Insights on May 16, News of the Force told them the following:

"You really should do your homework before you post things like this. We checked all of this out with the Virginia newspapers. Here's the real deal:

"1. They were pretty incredulous that someone would post this story, which ran BEFORE the election - and AFTER Anderson was elected.

"2. Paul Nichols was arrested in North Carolina. The Anderson campaign got hold of the information, and published it. The identifying information on the police reports contained Nichols' Social Security number, which was blacked out. However, Virginia also used to use a person's Social Security number as their driver's license number. Virginia changed that, and told everybody in the state who had a license to go and get it changed to a new license with a driver's license number (not their SSAN) on it, but Nichols failed to do that. So, on the police reports, Nichols' driver's license number showed up as his Social Security number. That's a public record in Virginia and anybody can get it. His driver's license number (which was also his SSAN because he never bothered to have it corrected) was also on the reports as his driver's license number.

"3. Nichols did complain to the LOCAL Commonwealth Attorney (i.e., the D.A.). In Virginia, both the LOCAL D.A.'s and the state attorney general are known as "Commonwealth attorneys." The LOCAL Commonwealth attorney passed the complaint to the state's Commonwealth attorney, who ruled that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the Anderson campaign. There was no "investigation," only a legal opinion by the state's Commonwealth attorney.

"4. Nowhere, anyway, is it illegal to publish someone's Social Security number. While it probably would not be the right thing to do, it's perfectly legal to do it.

"As to this part about Anderson slipping "confidential information" to Gen. Courter - remember that they're both on the Board of Governors - so it's kind of stupid to think he'd be sharing anything with Gen. Courter that she didn't already know."

And although we've informed them of this, CAP Insights has not changed, corrected or deleted their story about Anderson.

News of the Force has gone straight to the source and inquired with Gen. Anderson. In a e-mailed reply, the general said:

"Skip, Here are several Internet links for you that will put my November 2009 election into the proper perspective. They link to our newspaper here in Northern Virginia and will give you some insight into this issue.

http://www2.insidenova.com/isn/news/local/article/anderson_nichols_continue_to_duke_it_out_in_ads/46301/

http://www2.insidenova.com/isn/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/article/letter_nichols_calls_on_eberts_help/46257/

http://www2.insidenova.com/isn/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/article/letter_anderson_ad_did_a_service/45857/

"The bottom line is that my opponent, who was the incumbent at the time, was arrested for assaulting a law enforcement officer prior to his last election. My campaign team discovered the arrest record during a routine background check that all campaigns - Democrat and Republican alike - do on their primary and general election opponents. The record was released by the police department in the responsible jurisdiction in North Carolina, and face-to-face interviews with the arresting officer just one week before my campaign released the arrest record confirmed that the officer arrested my opponent for "Resist, Delay, and Obstruct" (resisting arrest, delaying a law enforcement officer, and obstruction of justice). There was no question about the authenticity of my opponent's bad behavior. The case was later dismissed on a technicality because the arresting officer moved out of North Carolina to work in a new jurisdiction after the North Carolina arrest and before my opponent's hearing date.

"The mail piece that my campaign released in our district DID NOT contain my opponent's Social Security number. It contained his Virginia driver's license number only. If you will look at the attached .pdf scan of the mail piece, you will see that the driver's license block has a number in it, while the Social Security number block is blank. As it turned out, my opponent's driver's license number was a derivative of his Social Security number, which was an old way of formatting in Virginia until 10 years ago - and it appeared on his license BECAUSE HE FAILED TO CHANGE IT TO A NEW FORMAT AS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES.

"No one would have known that his license number was derived from his Social Security number IF HE HAD NOT PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED THAT FACT. Bottom line: We vetted this issue thoroughly with a team of attorneys, and they agreed that the number on my campaign mail piece WAS NOT my opponent's Social Security number...it was his driver's license number...period. And even if it had been his Social Security number, that is not a violation of the law in Virginia.

"Concerning a criminal investigation, there was never such a proceeding. Here's how this misperception occurred: My opponent filed a complaint with the Commonwealth Attorney in this part of Virginia, who was required to do an INITIAL INQUIRY to see if there were any violations. After the initial inquiry, the complaint was closed out and DID NOT - I repeat, DID NOT - proceed to the investigation stage. My opponent's campaign team falsely told the local paper that I was under "criminal investigation," which found its way into the newspaper incorrectly and is what CAP Insights is falsely running on its Web site.

"Again, there was no violation and there was no criminal investigation - but there WAS a full exoneration of my campaign because the complaint was unfounded and without merit. The voters intuitively knew that, and that is why I now represent the 100,000 citizens of my district in the Virginia General Assembly.

"Two final tidbits...

"First tidbit: The Commonwealth Attorney who did the initial inquiry has done multiple such inquires on Republican candidates. The perception here in our community is that it is politically motivated to give an advantage to Democrats, evidenced by the fact that the Commonwealth Attorney in question had made substantial political cash contributions to my opponent, that he has a propensity for trying to handicap Republicans, and that his inquiries against multiple Republican candidates have all resulted in no action beyond an initial inquiry.

"Second tidbit: This was splashed for nearly a month across the Northern Virginia media (TV, radio, and newspapers) to a market of a half-million voters. It is old news, and CAP Insights is splashing it across their Web site as if it's a new discovery and new news.

"Hope this helps, Skip. Thanks for your interest, your professionalism, and your help. Best regards, Rich Anderson."

And that's "the rest of the story."

Related sites:

The Civil Air Patrol, www.gocivilairpatrol.com.

Rich Anderson, Virginia House of Delegates, Bio for Richard L. Anderson .

CAP Insights, ETE Insights.