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Judicial Watch to Appeal Daly Verdict U.S. Betrays Officer Injured by Russians in the Line of Duty; JW Seeks Members' Help for Appeal! In 1997, LCDR Jack Daly was attacked by a Russian spy ship in U.S. waters an act of war that should have, at the very least, elicited outrage on the part of the Clinton Administration. But rather than honor a man who sacrificed his health for his country, rather than execute a plan to hold his assailants accountable, the U.S. government was more interested in furthering relations with its new ‘friends,’ and covered up the incident, hanging Jack Daly out to dry. The betrayal on the part of the United States was made complete on October 18, when the Russian U.S. alliance eked out a victory in court over the LCDR. Judicial Watch has only begun to fight, however, and is now in the process of appealing the case. "It is a sad day when the Defense Department not only fails to come to the aid of one of its own servicemen, but also joins forces with the enemy in the process," said JW Chairman Larry Klayman. "Once again, JW is forced to step into a void created by government negligence and corruption." On April 4, 1997, LCDR Jack Daly was hand picked by the Director of Naval Intelligence for a critical mission. A Russian ship, the KAPITAN MAN, was suspected of monitoring the movements of U.S. nuclear-powered, ballistic missile submarines. LCDR Daly was charged with taking surveillance photographs of the KAPITAN MAN as it made its way along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, two hours north of Seattle. During his surveillance, which took place aboard a Canadian helicopter, Daly felt a flash of brilliant light strike his eyes, causing him to turn away. Later in the day he would experience stinging in his eyes and sharp pains in his head. The next morning he awoke with a small pool of blood in one of his eyes. Military doctors told Daly that he and his Canadian chopper pilot had been shot with a laser by the Russians. The damage would be permanent. One might have expected the United States to launch a full investigation and, if necessary, demand compensation from the Russian government. Shockingly, however, the Clinton Administration treated the incident as an inconvenient stumbling block on the path to improved relations with the Russian government. The KAPITAN MAN was not searched until several days later and with at least 10 hours advanced warning given to the Russians. Though a thorough search should have taken 2-3 days, U.S. inspectors were aboard for less than 4 hours. Predictably, no evidence was found. To this day, even with the change in Administrations, the official U.S. and Russian position is that the attack never happened. In fact, during the trial, Bush Administration lawyers sat with the Russian defendants. Judicial Watch put on a persuasive case. However, it was not allowed to present all of its evidence. U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour refused to allow two of JW’s key witnesses, including Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire, to testify on LCDR Daly's behalf. Senator Smith is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who could have provided testimony about the Navy’s cover-up of the incident. Strangely, during the trial the judge was meeting with a group of Russian judges in his private chambers. JW is looking into what was discussed and why the Russian judges were there in the first place. "Mr. Daly was an active-duty military officer injured in the line of duty. Sometimes you get a Purple Heart for that," Senator Smith told the Seattle Post Intelligencer. "You can’t expect to send men into battle if you're not going to support them when they come home. People won't go into battle anymore." JW has very strong grounds to appeal and has requested the continued help of its members to achieve justice for American hero Jack Daly. More to come…
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