As he waded into the town being investigated for possible racial profiling of Latinos, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Dick Blumenthal had the same to say on the subject as his leading Republican opponent — not much.
Blumenthal was asked about the subject Wednesday as he stumped for votes at the East Haven Senior Center. Many of the center’s regulars had taken off for a lobster bake in Rhode Island. Still, he got a warm reception from about 15 seniors there, and they wished him well.
Blumenthal was asked to comment on a pending federal Department of Justice investigation into complaints by New Haven and East Haven Latinos and immigration advocates that East Haven’s police department has been harassing and singling out Latinos for verbal and physical harassment and even violence. As a U.S. senator, Blumenthal would be a member of a body that oversees the Justice Department and considers federal civil rights issues like this one.
Blumenthal said Tuesday that he couldn’t comment on the investigation since it doesn’t have to do with his current office, state attorney general.
“It is a Department of Justice investigation not involving my office. Any credible allegations of wrongdoing merit investigation,” he said. “We’ll have to wait for the conclusion.” He didn’t say if these allegations are credible or if there’s a problem in East Haven. Preliminary findings by the feds suggest a problem exists.
“I’m confident that the Department of Justice will uncover the facts that are relevant and take appropriate action,” he said.
Click on the play arrow to watch his response to the question.
The leading Republican candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat, Linda McMahon, was asked the same question when she opened a regional headquarters in East Haven last week. Click here to read about that, and click on the play arrow at left to watch. She said that she didn’t have enough information to comment on East Haven, but that “racial profiling is wrong.”
The feds have been investigating the East Haven department for over six months, after a request by a largely Latino Fair Haven church, St. Rose of Lima. Those allegations first came to light in March 2009 after St. Rose’s Father James Manship was arrested by East Haven police while documenting alleged police harassment in a convenience store. Manship was later exonerated after it was found that police had lied on Manship’s arrest report.
In April, the Department of Justice released preliminary findings in its investigation, stating that the East Haven police department suffers from, among other things, inadequate oversight of officers and a lack of proper complaint procedures. Those preliminary findings resulted in the removal of East Haven Police Chief Len Gallo.
In May, the East Haven Board of Police Commissioners voted to ask the chief state’s attorney’s office to investigate the arrest of Father Manship.
At Wednesday’s campaign stop, Blumenthal was also asked to comment on a video posted on McMahon’s website accusing him of reneging on a campaign pledge not to accept money from political action committees. A McMahon staffer followed Blumenthal to Vancouver, Canada, to seek support from a gathering of the American Association for Justice, which represents many kinds of lawyers. Click on the play arrow at left to watch it.
Blumenthal denied ever saying he would not take PAC money for his Senate race. The video clip shows him the day he declared for the race, saying, “I’ve never taken PAC money.” He said on Wednesday that he made no statement that day about whether he would in the future accept such donations, but thought he’d probably have to. And now he definitely is.
“I never have said I wouldn’t take PAC money and I’m not going to fight this race against a $50 million campaign with one hand tied behind my back. I have never condemned political action campaigns or candidates who accepted [PAC] money. I’ve never done it as attorney general, because of the unique features of that job, but as a candidate for United State Senate, I need to be able to fight with both arms.”
He was asked how he felt about being followed to Vancouver by a political operative of his likely opponent. “If I was stalked, so be it, but I can’t complain about what seems to be a feature of modern political life,” Blumenthal responded. “Certainly, people value their privacy, as they should. Bottom line, the people of Connecticut will have to judge whether they think certain campaign tactics are appropriate, and the stalking of one candidate by another is something they’ll have to assess.”
I do not know where Vietnam is, I have never known where Vietnam is, and I never will know where Vietnam is.