Progress Now Action

There was a WaPo article from this past weekend that didn't get nearly enough attention. Seems that one of the Republican candidates running in CD 5 got his campaign mixed up in some illegal fundraising recently. Bentley Rayburn, the candidate, asked his old friend Jack Catton to help him raise some money from their classmates at the Air Force Academy, and Catton obliged. Problem is that Catton is still active duty, and active duty military personnel can't get involved in political races. To make matters worse, the fundraising appeal that Catton sent out by email came from his government email address and went to the government email addresses of other active duty officers. That's also illegal. Here's the text of Catton's email:

Classmates,

As some of you may have heard, Bentley Rayburn is running for Congress in Colorado's 5th District. What many of you may not know is his website address and the uphill battle he has in terms of limited time to campaign (less than 100 days) and raising money to support a competitive campaign. We are certainly in need of Christian men with integrity and military experience in Congress. Please read Bentley's note below and join me in supporting his bid to continue serving our country.

Proud to be a member of the Spirit of '76,

Jack

Here's the text of Rayburn's email to Catton that started this whole thing:

Jack,

It was great to talk to you on the phone today. Thanks a million for your willingness to spread the news of my congressional run among your classmates. Needless to say, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was important--if I didn't feel called to the task--and if I didn't think we could win this thing. We can win, but it's going to take a lot of hard work and help from a lot of people. So, what I'd ask you to do is to convey to the Class of '76 some of the basic information of my candidacy and ultimately enlist their support and encourage them to seek out the support of their family, friends, neighbors and colleagues. As we discussed, beyond the local issues here in the 5th District of Colorado which they may not be interested in if they don't live here, the lack of credible military experience in Congress is a national problem. The lack of any Air Force presence within the Congress was particularly telling over the last few years, and we as a service have suffered for it. For those reasons alone, along with the need to support the President in our war against radical Islamic jihadists, it only makes sense that we look for more folks with solid military experience who can provide the balance we need in Washington. For those of us who are Christians, there is that whole other side of the coin that recognizes that we need more Christian influence in Congress. That being said, I'm the guy who has put his hand in the air, so any help I can garner from your class and our other Academy colleagues, would be of tremendous help. Our website is: www.RayburnForCongress.org. We have the capability for on-line donations, and also attached is a form folks can fill out (it's also on the web) if they want to send a check vice doing it electronically. We can win, but you know that it's going to take a lot of hard work and help and money from a lot of people. Time is important because it is not going to be a long campaign as the primary is 8 August, 97 days from now. Hopefully we'll be able to raise funds quickly to show some strength relative to the other candidates. My classmate, John Gaughan (Col, ret), is our campaign manager. He's doing a great job! We can win this seat--which needless to say will be great for the AF, the US military, the USAFA and for folks who hold to our values for God and Country--but we need your assistance. I certainly appreciate any and all help that the men in '76 can give. Thanks for being such a great friend,

Bentley

According to the WaPo article, appropriate Air Force officials are investigating. Click on the extended entry for the text fo the WaPo article.

Air Force to Examine Fundraising E-Mail Sent by a General
Message Praised Candidate's Christianity

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 6, 2006; A03

The Air Force is investigating whether a two-star general violated military regulations by urging fellow Air Force Academy graduates to make campaign contributions to a Republican candidate for Congress in Colorado, Pentagon officials said yesterday.

Maj. Gen. Jack J. Catton Jr., who is on active duty at Langley Air Force Base, sent the fundraising appeal on Thursday from his official e-mail account to more than 200 fellow members of the academy's class of 1976, many of whom are also on active duty.

"We are certainly in need of Christian men with integrity and military experience in Congress," Catton wrote.

Defense Department rules prohibit active-duty officers from using their position to solicit campaign contributions or seek votes for a particular candidate. An Air Force spokesman said yesterday that "appropriate officials are inquiring into the facts surrounding these e-mails."

Catton's e-mail was provided to The Washington Post by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit group founded last year by Michael L. "Mikey" Weinstein, White House counsel in the Reagan administration.

"This is not just a small thing," said Weinstein, who is suing the Air Force to halt what he contends is pervasive proselytizing in the armed forces. "It's evidence of a continuing attack on separation of church and state by evangelicals in the military."

Catton urged his classmates to support Bentley Rayburn, a recently retired Air Force general seeking the Republican nomination for a House seat being vacated this year by Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.). Hefley's district around Colorado Springs includes the Air Force Academy, several military bases and the headquarters of Focus on the Family, James Dobson's Christian broadcasting organization.

Both Catton's e-mail and an accompanying note from Rayburn portrayed him as a candidate who would represent the military and conservative Christians.

"The lack of any Air Force presence within the Congress was particularly telling over the last few years," Rayburn wrote, referring to controversy over proselytizing at the Air Force Academy and new Air Force regulations on religious expression. "For those of us who are Christians, there is that whole other side of the coin that recognizes that we need more Christian influence in Congress."

Rayburn, a 1975 graduate of the Air Force Academy, said yesterday that Catton's only mistake was sending the message out from his official e-mail account.

Catton said in a telephone interview that he realized after he sent the e-mail Thursday evening that it was "inappropriate" and attempted to recall it Friday morning.

"I'm traveling and I was going through e-mails last night, on the airplane, and very excited about one of my academy brothers running for Congress, and forwarded the e-mail to my classmates to share the excitement," he said.

"And when I got up this morning I had an e-mail from one of my classmates who said, 'Jack, do you realize you were on your work computer?' I went, 'Holy smokes!' And so I immediately sent out a recall of that e-mail, because I shouldn't have sent it out on my work computer, because it's inappropriate."

Pentagon lawyers declined to comment while the circumstances are under investigation. A former Air Force lawyer, retired Brig. Gen. James W. Swanson, said the use of an official e-mail address "is probably an aggravator, but it isn't the essence of the offense."

"Clearly this country wants and needs an apolitical military," he said. "It sounds like an excess of enthusiasm, but I'd be surprised if there is not some sort of disciplinary or administrative action in this case."