DNC - On The Ropes: Gomez Now Trying, Failing To Distance Himself From Infamous Role As Spokesman For OPSEC
Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 08:10AM On The Ropes: Gomez Now Trying, Failing To Distance Himself
From Infamous Role As Spokesman For Right-Wing Attack Group That Led "Swift Boat" Effort Against
President Obama In 2012
Gomez Was Spokesman For OPSEC Group That Spent $500k In 2012
Accusing President Obama Of Politicizing bin Laden Death
One Year Later, Gomez Says "I Was Never Associated With OPSEC"
BOSTON – A year after gaining notoriety for his role as spokesman for Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, Gabriel Gomez is now scrambling to wash his hands clean of the right-wing, secretly-funded attack group, which spent half a million dollars airing "swift-boat" attack ads against President Obama in 2012.
Yesterday – for the very first time in more than a year since being OPSEC's spokesman – Gomez shockingly claimed, "I was never associated with OPSEC… I wasn't part of OPSEC."
FACT CHECK: Pants on Fire, according to virtually every single media report since 2012.
"No matter how hard he tries, Gabriel Gomez can't change the fact that less than a year before launching his flailing campaign for Senate, he was a spokesman for a right-wing, secretly-funded attack group that tried to 'swift-boat' President Obama's handling of the death of Osama bin Laden," said Massachusetts Democratic Party spokeswoman Samantha Hooper. "Gabriel Gomez's well documented record of being a spokesman for the infamous group that spent half a million dollars on attack ads against President Obama is a clear example of how he is just another extremist Republican who can't be trusted to fight for Massachusetts."
BACKGROUND
GOMEZ WAS THE SPOKESMEN FOR A GROUP THAT SPENT ALMOST $500,000 FALSELY ATTACKING PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR POLITICIZING THE DEATH OF BIN LADEN.
Gomez Actively Spoke Up For “A Controversial Video Attacking President Obama.” According to the Springfield Republican, ‘Before he was a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, Gabriel Gomez was active in an organization that released a controversial video attacking President Barack Obama for jeopardizing national security by releasing information related to the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden.’ [Springfield Republican, 02/15/2013]
Headline – ‘Massachusetts Senate Candidate Gabriel Gomez Was Spokesman For Controversial Anti-Obama Film’ [Springfield Republican, 02/15/2013]
OPSEC Spent Nearly $500,000 Attacking President Obama. During the 2012 election cycle, Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund spent $485,000 attacking President Obama. [Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 4/25/13]
PolitiFact Rated Claims By OPSEC “Half True,” “Mostly False,” And “False.” PolitiFact rated the accuracy of three claims made by OPSEC about President Obama. PolitiFact criticized the group, which it noted “claims it isn't favoring a candidate,” but added “it's clear Obama is being targeted.” PolitiFact noted serious concerns with each of the claims it rated, calling the first “half true,” the second “mostly false,” and the last “false.” [PolitiFact, OPSEC]
FACT CHECK: GOMEZ CAN’T HIDE FROM HIS RECORD.
CLAIM: GOMEZ NOW SAYS “I WAS NEVER ASSOCIATED WITH OPSEC. I NEVER DONATED TO OPSEC. I WASN’T PART OF OPSEC.”
Springfield Republican: Gomez Now Claims ““I Was Never Associated With OPSEC. I Never Donated To OPSEC. I Wasn’t Part Of OPSEC.” The Springfield Republican reported on May 7th that Gomez “for the first time distanced himself from OPSEC, though he stood by its message. ‘I did two interviews for OPSEC,’ Gomez said. ‘I was never associated with OPSEC. I never donated to OPSEC. I wasn’t part of OPSEC.’” [Springfield Republican, 5/7/13]
FACT: GOMEZ WAS BILLED AS A “MEMBER” OF THE GROUP WHEN HE APPEARED ON MSNBC, AND REFERRED TO THE ATTACKS “WE WERE TRYING TO HIGHLIGHT IN THE VIDEO.”
Gomez Appeared On MSNBC As “Member” Of OPSEC; Referred To OPSEC In The 1st Person. Smerconish introduced Gomez on MSNBC saying he was “a former Navy Seal who's a member of the OPSEC group.” Throughout his conversation with Smerconish, Gomez referred to himself and the group in the first person, for example: “I think one of the points that we try to highlight through the video, if you look at some of the prior war time Presidents, you look at Lincoln, you look at Eisenhower, they only gave credit to the troops. That's what we were trying to highlight in the video.” [MSNBC, August 2012]
FACT: GOMEZ WAS A “SPOKESMAN” FOR OPSEC, ACCORDING TO MULTIPLE PUBLISHED ACCOUNTS.
Bloomberg: Gomez “was a spokesman for a group called Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund.” “Democrats want to focus on another aspect of Gomez’s past. In 2012, he was a spokesman for a group called Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, which released a 22-minute video criticizing Obama for, it asserted, politicizing the killing of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid.” [Bloomberg, 5/3/13]
Boston.com: Gomez “Was A Spokesman For the Conservative Group During The 2012 Presidential Election.” “Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, was a spokesman for the conservative group during the 2012 presidential election, when it accused Obama of exploiting the killing of Osama bin Laden and endangering troops for political purpose.” [Boston.com, 4/26/13]
Springfield Republican [headline]: “Massachusetts Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez was spokesman for controversial anti-Obama film” “Before he was a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, Gabriel Gomez was active in an organization that released a controversial video attacking President Barack Obama for jeopardizing national security by releasing information related to the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden.” [Springfield Republican, 2/15/13]
DNC, Massachusetts, Party Politics, Special Elections, US Senate 
deficit reduction, including for sacrifice by “the rich,” Senate majority leader Harry Reid has apparently slated a Senate vote as early as this Monday afternoon that would throw both priorities out of balance.
