The US Army says it’s continuing to investigate the appearance of reservists in the video of American Samoa’s delegates casting votes remotely from the territory in the Democratic National Convention last week.
KHJ News Washington DC corr. Matt Kaye has more…
The Army Reserve’s Chief of Media Relations Lt. Colonel Simon Flake says in an email statement that, quoting, “the participation of two uniformed soldiers in the Democratic National Convention on August 18th remains under investigation.”
Underscoring the seriousness of the probe, Flake adds that, “Standard procedural steps are being taken to ensure the investigation is conducted in a timely and thorough manner.”
He continues that, “appropriate rights will be afforded to all.”
Flake states that the Army Reserve follows the Department of Defense’s “long standing policy regarding political campaigns and elections to avoid the perception of DOD sponsorship, approval or endorsement of any political candidate, campaign or cause.”
The appearance of two uniformed Army Reservists alongside American Samoa’s top Democratic Party officials during the DNC roll call last week, became a national spectacle, garnering widespread media attention.
DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa was asked about the shot…
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An oversight for the DNC…but how was the decision made locally?
A defense official told ABC News last week that the presence of the two soldiers will raise questions about how they ended up participating in the roll call against Army regulations.
Governor Lolo’s Chief of staff denied in a formal statement that the Governor had anything to do with the episode and stated Lolo declared himself an Independent since he became Governor in 2013.
Still, a check on the internet site Wikipedia shows the Governor was a delegate for Hillary Clinton at the 2016 DNC convention and had a super delegate slot at this year’s convention, before Covid-19 turned the event ‘virtual.’
So, the question for the Army now is, who decided for the local Reservists to appear in the DNC video from American Samoa, the military, or local politicians and Party officials?
Lolo’s Chief of Staff called it “ludicrous and baseless” the Governor would have known about the soldiers’ appearance beforehand, simply because the local Democratic Party Chairman works at his office.
