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WASHINGTON — Beneath hearth for accusations of stolen valor, U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls is doubling down on defending his army file by blaming “the establishment” forces in search of to discredit him.
Nehls, R-Richmond, has been beneath intense scrutiny over his show of a fight service badge that the Military revoked and faraway from his service file final yr.
Nehls, who represents a big swath of suburbs southwest of Houston, launched what he known as a “final written comment” on the controversy Tuesday afternoon. Nehls didn’t dispute that his Fight Infantryman Badge (CIB) had been revoked by the Military, however supplied no rationalization for why he continued to put on it till as lately as this month.
The congressman as an alternative accused his critics of utilizing the army to undermine him for his hardline conservative views. Nehls is a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus.
“Unfortunately for me, as an America First Patriot and an outspoken member of Congress, there are no lengths to which the establishment won’t go to discredit me, including my CIB, which I was awarded over 14 years ago,” Nehls mentioned in his Tuesday assertion. “Nothing more needs to be said.”
On Wednesday, Nehls had apparently stopped carrying the badge.
The Fight Infantryman Badge, or CIB.
Credit score:
Public area
“Because you guys are vultures,” he instructed reporters, in response to on-line information web site NOTUS. “I know what I’ve done, and I certainly don’t have to justify myself to you guys. You were probably in middle school when I was over there. So I don’t have to justify myself to you in any form or fashion. But I know the truth. And now that I don’t wear that, what are you going to talk to me about?”
Nehls served within the Military from 1988 to 2008, first with the Wisconsin Nationwide Guard after which within the Military Reserve. Throughout his two deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Nehls served within the civil affairs department, the Military confirmed to the Washington outlet NOTUS. The Fight Infantryman Badge was apparently incorrectly awarded for his tour in Afghanistan in 2008.
Solely soldiers or Particular Forces troopers who engaged in energetic fight are eligible for the Fight Infantryman Badge.
In his Tuesday assertion, Nehls appeared incredulous over the Military’s transfer to rescind his badge, at the same time as he acknowledged that it occurred. Nehls beforehand argued in a letter to the Military’s human assets command that the division he had been part of was certainly a fight unit.
“In 2023, 14 years after my retirement, suddenly, the Department of the Army rescinded my CIB. According to my correspondence I received from the Department of the Army, 142,596 CIBs have been awarded over the past 20 years. Of these, only 47 CIBs have been rescinded. So, let me get this straight, the Department of the Army says that the 101st Airborne Division has been 99.968% correct in awarding the CIB over the past two decades?” he mentioned.
The difficulty was delivered to gentle in Could after a CBS Information investigation confirmed discrepancies between the congressman’s personal representations of his army profession and his information held by the Pentagon. Opinions of Nehls’ profession carried out by the Military discovered two separate discrepancies.
Along with the revoked Fight Infantryman Badge the Military additionally instructed CBS that Nehls’ information point out he acquired just one Bronze Star medal, regardless of his claiming to have been awarded two. Nehls posted two certificates and two kinds on social media earlier this month.
Bronze Stars are awarded to any particular person based mostly on any heroic achievement in a fight setting, whether or not they have been serving in a fight or civilian function.
A few of Nehl’s Home Republican colleagues have since criticized him for his continued show of the badge, with fellow Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston, a former Military officer, telling a NOTUS reporter: “That’s ridiculous. That’s stolen valor.”
Earlier than being elected in 2020, Nehls was the sheriff of Fort Bend County. He’s individually going through a probe by a Home ethics panel into potential marketing campaign finance violations.
Simply in: Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming; U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania; and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will take the stage at The Texas Tribune Pageant, Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Purchase tickets right now!
