October surpriseNew York Times Turns to Radical Democrat in Desperate Attempt to Reignite Smear Against Tim Sheehy in Montana Senate RaceBradley Jaye 18 Oct 2024
The New York Times is relying on a registered Democrat with a long history of donating to Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and other leftwing politicians to justify recirculating a failed attack against surging Republican Montana Senate nominee Tim Sheehy.
The recycled attack coincides with Sheehy’s surge to a commanding eight-point lead over incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, who is at risk of losing his Senate seat and taking Sen. Chuck Schumer’s majority with him.
The Times – Schumer’s hometown paper – relies on an account from Dave Madden, a former Navy SEAL colleague of Sheehy’s with long histories of donating to Democrats and troubling social media posts, to cast doubts on Sheehy’s account of being struck by a bullet in Afghanistan.
Madden has donated almost 40 times to Democrat candidates beginning with then-Sen. Barack Obama’s first campaign for president, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The Times report acknowledges Madden is “a registered Democrat who has frequently criticized Mr. Sheehy’s politics and character online in recent months” but does not address the vociferousness of those attacks or other troubling posts from Madden, many revealed by Breitbart News for the first time.
Madden, who served in Afghanistan but admits he was not present during the 2012 firefight in question, disputes Sheehy’s account of being shot during the skirmish. Sheehy did not initially report his war wound, only revealing it after his service ended.
Sheehy and his team say he withheld reporting the incident because he suspected that it may have occurred as a result of friendly fire, which might have caused problems for his platoonmates. The Times reports:
That initial effort to protect his peers, the lawyers said, continued for years, after Mr. Sheehy left active duty. They said that when Mr. Sheehy suffered what they said was an injury on a hike in the national park and sought help at a hospital emergency room, the medical staff told him they needed to report the bullet in his arm to law enforcement. He decided to lie about it, the lawyers said, by telling both the medical staff and Mr. Peach that the bullet had come from an accidental shooting that day.The Times continues:
Lawyers for Mr. Sheehy said in a letter to The Times this week that the bullet had actually came from an apparent ricochet during a firefight in Afghanistan, and that Mr. Sheehy had not wanted to spark an official investigation that could create problems for his fellow SEALs.
Three years later in Montana, they said, he slipped on a patch of ice and fell to the ground, re-aggravating the bullet injury. When he got to the hospital, they said, he informed medical workers of his past gunshot wound. He explained that the gunshot was not fresh, the lawyers said, but when hospital officials said they would still have to contact law enforcement, Mr. Sheehy changed his story to say that he accidentally shot himself in the national park, still fearing that revealing the ricochet bullet could result in problems for his former SEAL teammates.more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/10/18/new-york-times-turns-to-radical-democrat-in-desperate-attempt-to-reignite-smear-against-tim-sheehy-in-montana-senate-race/
