EDITORIAL: Brian Reilly, Surprise Tea Party Supporter Turns On Arpaio

NewsBlaze recently received a letter from Mr. Brian Reilly, a Surprise Arizona Tea Party member who urged Sheriff Joe Arpaio to investigate the Obama document anomalies. Mr. Reilly seems to have switched sides. His letter read:

Hello,

Regarding Mr. Randy Foreman’s most recent article about his meeting with “Detective Lt. Mike Zullo” and Foreman’s reference to Zullo as Sheriff Arpaio’s “top deputy,” and Zullo being an “Arizona lawman,” I’d like to call your attention to the following which defines an Arizona police officer as one who has been Certified by AZ POST. (Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training). Unless Mr. Zullo can show his AZ POST certification he is not a law enforcement officer and does not have the power of arrest. Mr, Zullo is an unpaid volunteer member of a non-profit Arizona corporation that utilizes the name “Maricopa County Sheriff’s Cold Case Posse, Inc.” There are approximately 50 posses in Maricopa County, Arizona. They have been established by the sheriff to support the efforts of law-enforcement, but the posse is NOT law enforcement. I would hope that Mr. Foreman will do more thorough research in the future before he submits his report for print. (Please note that “posse members are not included in ARS 1-215.27 as an Arizona “peace officer.”)

Mr. Foreman needs to learn to look at things with a more critical eye and report facts, and certainly not easily identifiable misinformation to the public.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,

Brian Reilly

Beyond the hollow pleasantries in Mr. Reilly’s letter, we can say, in the words of the immortal British monarch Queen Victoria, we are not amused. In fact, in the words of Dionne Farris, “we know what you’re up to and its not going to work this time.” It appears that Mr. Reilly’s desire for correction in this matter should be treated with the equivalent of the digestive level of a five pound bag of sugar-free Haribo Gummy Bears. (See Amazon Product review here.) More on that in a moment.

The fact is that since NewsBlaze took on our Washington correspondent, Mr. Randy Foreman, he has distinguished himself as an authority on the investigation of Barack Obama’s life story. Mr. Foreman was given the freedom and latitude to pursue this story and to even go after the Pulitzer Prize that filmmaker Joel Gilbert said in a National Press Club speech was available to anyone who wanted to take it.

michael zullo businesscard
Michael Zullo, Investigator businesscard

Mr. Foreman has worked with the biggest Political Action Committee on this issue, met with the activists, questioned more public officials than any other journalist on what little Washington is doing on the issue, he has been on air three times with the top rated Denver, Colorado radio host Peter Boyles, and he has interfaced with the Cold Case Posse.

When the dust settles on the issue of the Obama Birth Certificate, Mr. Foreman may be in the running for a Pulitzer Prize for this along with the reporters at World Net Daily, or possibly a Bradley Prize.

As an international media organization based in two capitals, Canberra, Australia and Washington D.C., we are aware of the very mercurial aspects of this topic and what was NOT included in Mr. Reilly’s letter. Mr. Foreman’s sources, that include eligibility activists, plus those from the website Birtherreport.com and others, have indicated that Mr. Reilly was one of the prime people who asked for Jerome Corsi to meet with Sheriff Arpaio and begin this investigation. Why the change of heart by Mr. Reilly? That question is never spoken of by Mr. Reilly but it seems to be at a baseline for any discussion with him about Mr. Foreman’s reporting.

At NewsBlaze, we are interested in journalism, the business of government and seeking the truth. To that end, we are not law enforcement professionals. That is why we rely on reporters and the people they interview for information – in this case, Sheriff Arpaio and his team. We understand that the wheels of justice move slowly, particularly in a monumental case such as this. Mr. Foreman has chronicled that in a previous op-ed about the case of the Washington sniper attacks and Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, about how many times he went on television shooting blanks before the culprit’s message was broadcast internationally, and shortly thereafter, justice was served. This case is likely to be no different. We are in this for the longer term.

In regard to the specific charge in Mr. Reilly’s letter that we used the phrase “top deputy” and ascribed it to the lead investigator of the case, Mike Zullo, it seems to us that Mr. Zullo is acting as a proxy for Sheriff Arpaio, so we think the description “deputy” fits.

As for our use of “Arizona Lawman,” we checked the business card of Mike Zullo and it denotes his title as an “Investigator” so our story will reflect that but Mr. Foreman thinks the response to the German commander from American Gen. McAuliffe at Bastogne in the Second World War may be appropriate at this time – “NUTS!” We have edited that story to say “Arizona investigator.”

In a four hour meeting with Mr. Foreman, Mr. Zullo presented a badge from the Maricopa County Sheriffs office and after a remark about the Oprah Winfrey Oxygen Network Show “Real Police Women of Maricopa County,” Mr. Zullo said he knew most of them. Is Mr. Reilly that plugged into the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office? It appears not to be the case.

What Mr. Reilly may not understand is the difference between “Certification” and “Authority” under Arizona’s Posse statutes, which covers Mr. Zullo. This has been brought up in recent radio interviews. Zullo’s authority, which Mr. Rielly would be wise to reference was laid out extensively in an Affidavit Sheriff Arpaio submitted to the Alabama Supreme Court.

Through Mr. Foreman, NewsBlaze was pleased to get a closer inside look at an investigation that could have a profound effect on American Life when it concludes. We don’t know what the outcome will be, but is is a story that should be told.

Mr. Foreman also learned of the hardships that Mr. Zullo experienced such as having personally quit his line of employment and traveling to seventy cities in the pursuit of truth. Mr. Zullo told Mr. Foreman that information in this case will have to be brought to a “higher level.” It seems clear that he is the man for that job, and NewsBlaze stands behind Mr. Foreman’s story, so we don’t plan to change any more than the single word we already changed.

This is a complex story, with many twists and turns, and while Mr. Reilly appears keen for us to get the story right, it seems he may be withholding some important information, such as why he appears to be dedicating his whole life to discrediting Sheriff Arpaio, Mike Zullo and their investigation.

Our stance at this point is “Come Clean,” Mr. Reilly, we’re not going to chew on your Gummy Bears, and “Do your thing,” Mike Zullo.

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