[Vision2020] E-mail Sparks Investigation of Army Civilians

Mon Jan 28 15:31:22 PST 2008

>From the Army Times at:

http://www.ArmyTimes.com

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E-mail sparks investigation of Army civilians

Accusations against presidential candidate Obama could violate policy
By Gina Cavallaro - gcavallaro at militarytimes.com
Posted : February 04, 2008

An unknown number of Army civilian employees will be investigated in 
connection with the unlawful distribution of a chain e-mail that makes 
false accusations about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The e-mail appears to have originated at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and was 
sent out by civilian individuals to potentially thousands of people who 
work for Army Medical Command, including soldiers.

In response, the Army sent a memorandum Jan. 16 through the Medical 
Information Technology Center to an unspecified number of soldiers in Army 
Medical Command warning against using government computers to distribute 
the e-mail.

The email accuses Obama of concealing that he is a radical Muslim, that he 
disrespects the American flag and that he was sworn into office with his 
hand on the Quran.

In fact, according to multiple biographical Web sites, Obama is a 
practicing Christian and used a Bible when he was sworn in as a senator 
from Illinois in 2005. His mother is Ann Dunham, a native of Kansas, who 
married a Muslim she divorced three years later.

Obama’s mother remarried another Muslim, and the family moved to Jakarta, 
Indonesia. Obama met his biological father once.

The Army memorandum, which was first reported in the Boston Globe, stated 
that “Currently there is an e-mail floating around with the Subject 
line: ‘Who is Barack Obama.’ Like virtually all chain e-mails, this one is 
false.”

The investigation into the actions of the Army civilians will be conducted 
by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal 
investigative and prosecutorial agency that looks into allegations of 
illegal practices among federal employees and protects the merits of 
others, such as whistle-blowers.

“We are going to be opening cases,” said OSC spokesman Jim Mitchell, who 
could not speculate on the number of people who will be investigated 
because of the possibility that it may have been distributed to thousands 
of people. “My own feeling is that this is the tip of the iceberg.”

The e-mail thread obtained by Army Times shows that the message began to 
circulate outside the government and reached an AMEDD employee before 
going out to a wide distribution list in that department.

“New technologies make it easier for you to do stupid things on government 
time, on government computers by federal employees to other federal 
employees,” Mitchell said, explaining that the chain e-mail sent by 
civilians at AMEDD is a violation of the Hatch Act, which restricts 
partisan political activity of federal employees. 

The Army posted a copy of the Hatch Act on Jan. 24 on its Army Knowledge 
Online Web site, even though soldiers are not subject to the rules and 
restrictions of the act. 

However, uniformed service members are subject to a set rules governing 
political activity under a Defense Department policy that imposes many of 
the same types of restrictions.

One possible violation is the use of government computers for other than 
official business. Another is the rule against distributing political 
literature.

“Soldiers need to understand what’s authorized and what’s prohibited by 
our regulations for any kind of political activity,” Army spokeswoman Lt. 
Col. Anne Edgecomb said. “It’s a soldier’s responbility.”

Army Secretary Pete Geren issued his own “Election Year Guidance for 2008” 
on Jan. 22 which urges soldiers to be aware of and comply with policies 
governing the use of facilities for political events and participation of 
Army personnel in political activities.