2nd in Command Of Besieged Democratic Candidate Ken Aden Speaks Out On Allegations Of Stolen Valor And Misrepresented College Degree Claims

            A few days ago Ian Gill of the Aden campaign texted me regarding their interest in my conducting another interview.  Mr. Gill told me at that time that he wanted the interview to be with him and not Aden. 

            Looking forward over my schedule for the week, I couldn't really see how I would find the time to do another interview.  Clearly The Progressive Cop is a hobby of mine.  Being a cop writing reports and breaking up domestic disputes is my bread and butter.  Then you add to that being a full time dad and college student to boot... How did I ever have time to do a first interview?

I knew that there had been public outcries for Aden to speak and defend himself and although this wasn’t exactly Aden speaking, it would be an opportunity for the public to hear from his campaign so how could I say no?   

I had met Mr. Gill only once before, during the course of putting together the first Aden interview that I published the last week of June.  I have to admit that immediately liked the guy.  He had come to Arkansas from his native Maryland, not because he wanted to see Arkansas or because he had family drawing him to the Natural State but instead he came to Arkansas because he liked what he saw in Ken Aden.  There is something honorable about a guy who would move halfway across the country to support something or someone who he does not know but believes in.

So, how could I say no to an interview?  How could I say no to the opportunity to help Americans who are mesmerized by the controversy surrounding Ken Aden hear from his campaign; if not Ken Aden himself?

The questions to ask Ian came relatively easy.  The medium was the tough part but then it donned on me as I sat scanning Facebook profiles. I realized we could do the interview via Facebook messaging.  It is after all, real time and it’s recorded. Nothing could be better given my other obligations.

So here it is my first Facebook interview.  Hopefully, it will help get the answers that so many have demanded of the Aden Campaign over the course of the past week or so.

Who is Ian Gill?

To start with Ian, tell us a little about why you came to Arkansas to work for Mr. Aden.

A few months back, Ken did an interview with The Young Turks, specifically their program TwenTYTwelve, which has featured interviews with Progressive candidates running for office throughout the country. I've watched the Young Turks for a long time now, and I've always been interested in politics. However, I had always found myself more attracted to specific causes, rather than any one candidate whose politics I could completely get behind.

Seeing Ken speak changed that. Not only did I agree with him on all of the issues, but the idea of someone returning home from years of military service to a district where the only job he could get was for less than $8 an hour seemed to me to speak directly to the sort of crisis we're having in this country.  So, I got in touch with the campaign, first emailing Jake Burris, and then having phone conversations with Jake and Ken. And then come June, I moved down to Russellville, and here I am.

There is no doubt that you believe in Ken Aden if you were willing to drop everything and come to Arkansas to work for his campaign.  In light of the recent controversies surrounding Mr. Aden, tell us why you think Arkansan’s should believe in Ken Aden?

Regardless of my own feelings about the validity (or lack thereof) of the attacks on Ken, none of the attacks address anything of substance as far as who is the best candidate to represent the Third District

in Congress. Ken's running against an incumbent who has taken incredible amounts of corporate money, has voted to eviscerate environmental protections, women's rights, minority rights, and worker's rights. Even if I doubted Ken's word--which I do not and have not even for a moment--I would consider such doubts to be negligible next to the importance of having a true Progressive in office to replace a corporate-bought shill.

 Obviously you support and believe your boss’ account of the recent controversy or you surely would not continue serving in your current capacity.  Given the fact that you personally believe Mr. Aden, you must feel that someone is behind all the controversy.  Do you care to speculate as to who that might be?

A media more interested in a sensationalist story than discussing real issues. A Republican opponent with ties both to military personnel and defense contractors. A Republican Party that has engaged in exactly this sort of smear innumerable times. Independent operatives looking for notoriety and money. Take your pick.

Some media and detractors have accused us of attempting to portray this as some sort of vast conspiracy against us. I don't see it as being anything of the sort. All it takes is one person with the motivation to do so to take advantage of a situation for their own ends.

Now if I am correct, you are Mr. Aden’s Campaign Office Manager, how does this differ from the Campaign Manager’s position which was recently vacated by Jake Burris?

Actually, my current official title is Deputy Campaign Manager, I was the Office Manager before that; I need to update that listing on Facebook. As office manager, I served to take much of the day to day business of the campaign off the shoulders of both Ken and Jake. Since the campaign began, the two of them have had to micro-manage almost every aspect of our operations. I helped take the more mundane burdens of that off their shoulders, so that they could focus on campaign strategy. My move to Deputy Campaign Manager came when Ken and Jake decided that I had something to offer in the realm of political strategy. I think it also took some time for them to decide to trust the crazy guy who just appeared one day from Maryland. As Deputy, I no longer manage as much of the day-to-day as far as Russellville-based operations, and I'm able to contribute more to the campaign as a whole. I remain humbled that Ken and Jake thought that it was something I could do.

About Ken Aden’s Education

Are you currently in the best position in the campaign to know what information comes into and goes out of the campaign?

I would say that I'm in one of the best positions, as far as such things can be closely monitored in a campaign like this. Having eschewed all corporate donations, our campaign lacks the finances to maintain the sort of vast, tightly controlled organization that allows for absolute control over information flow.

Can you tell me if Mr. Aden maintains his own personal Facebook Page or does someone

else handle that?

Ken maintains it as much as he can. I have access to it and have used that access from time to time, but rarely if ever without Ken's direct permission to do so. We're currently reorganizing our Facebook operations so that campaign business can be kept off of Ken's personal page, particularly in light of some of the rather hateful comments people having been leaving on his personal page of late.

Spokespersons for the Aden campaign have been quoted in the local media as blaming a consulting firm with the inaccurate information about Mr. Aden’s education that appeared on the campaign’s website.  On July 4, 2012, in preparation for this interview, I was looking over Mr. Aden’s personal Facebook profile and noticed it also says he holds an Associate of Arts Degree from Arkansas State and that he attended the University of Chicago.  Do you believe Mr. Aden is responsible for the material contained on his own personal Facebook page?

Is he responsible for it? Sure, it's in his name, and so he has a measure of responsibility for it no matter what. Did he post that specific information on there? I don't know; this campaign was running for nine months before I became a part of it. I've said repeatedly, including to Ken, that he's a terrible politician--it's one of the main reasons I think he would make a fantastic Representative for the Third District; we've seen what "good politicians" have done in recent years. Ought he have been more careful about exactly what he said about his education, given that he's a political candidate? Yes, but Ken's learning how to do this part of the business as he goes. Ken has taken classes at multiple colleges, and through the military. We are in the process of gathering all that information and transferring his credits to a single University so that a single, definitive transcript can be made. Will that transcript line up precisely with every statement Ken has made about his education? Maybe not. But it will reflect that the statements Ken has made about his education were not any attempt to mislead voters regarding his education, but rather his attempts to sum up a rather diverse educational history.

Isn’t there a clear difference between having a diverse educational background with numerous hours from several institutions and claiming to have a degree?  For instance, let’s say I have 130 hours at an institution where 120 hours typically is required for a bachelor’s degree. Still I would be dishonest if I claimed I had a degree while I am still working towards a degree.

I agree that there is a clear difference. And once we have the information consolidated into a single transcript, Ken will own up to any past characterizations of his education that are shown to be inaccurate.

My point is that such discrepancies are not the product of any malicious attempt to deceive anyone. Unfortunately, the behavior of politicians of all stripes has caused Americans to assume the worst about

anyone in or running for political office, and I think that's where the reaction to the education issue comes from. But I can't imagine how anyone who has a single honest conversation with Ken could ever imagine that he would purposefully lie for political gain.

Mr. Aden stated during our previous interview that he had “taken college courses at many places” had “well over sixty credit hours, although not from one certain place” and that he realized that

what he should have said was that he had the “equivalent of an Associate’s Degree.”  It was at that point that he added “also, Mid-South Community College is in partnership with ASU.”  Mid-South Community College is a school that he has been reportedly confirmed to have taken courses through.  Did Mr. Aden ever attend Arkansas State University?

Not being at the office at the moment, and having not been closely involved with the process of consolidating Ken's educational records, I can't give you a definitive answer to that. Two minutes with Ken or the staff

member who was working on this with him would suffice to answer the question, but it's simply been something that I haven't dealt with.

On the issue of the University of Chicago, it is my understanding that Mr. Aden attempted to clear this up by saying it was supposed to be City Colleges of Chicago.  These are two different entities are they not?

They are. And it is the latter that Ken took courses through.

You said Mr. Aden was going to transfer all of his credits to one institution in order to make it easier to summarize his educational background.  Will the Aden Campaign be producing Mr.

Aden’s transcripts from the various educational institutions that he has attended?

Provided that the manner of the transfer of those credits produces separate transcripts from each individual institution, yes. With how much of the process of transferring credits these days takes place online, I wouldn't want to speculate as to the exact form that the information we will have access to will be.

From my own experience in transferring credits, I know that grades aren't always

recorded when credits are transferred.  Do you feel that since Mr. Aden is essentially applying for a job in which the voters of the 3^rd District are his prospective employer, it is relevant for the voters to see how Mr. Aden performed in college? In light of the accusations of academic failures from Special Forces training, wouldn't that make it necessary to produce the transcripts from each institution?

If the process of transferring the credits to a single institution does not produce all of the information that is requested of us, we will take further steps to produce whatever other information is requested.

Aden’s Military Records

Some questions have been raised about the DD214 that your campaign provided.  Specifically questions have been raised about years of service in each of Mr. Aden’s MOS’ or military jobs.  According to the document Mr. Aden entered the Army in 2003.  If only one MOS can be

held at a time and Mr. Aden’s two jobs: Indirect Fire Infantry held for 8 years and SF Weapons Sergeant held for 2 years and 9 months were accurate representations of his military credentials, wouldn’t that add up to 10 years and 9 months of service and wouldn’t Mr. Aden then be obligated to serve well into 2013?

The "missing time" in question represents Ken's service in the National Guard, which he entered in 2000.

Now, I understand that you are not a veteran so I am delicately trying not to lead you into anything you can’t answer.  That said, DD214’s are issued as records of Active Duty service so, National Guard time, unless activated, should not be recorded on his DD214 from his Active

Duty term.  Even if his deployment to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt with the National Guard had been recorded onto his Active Duty DD214, there is still missing time.  This time issue would exist unless he had served exactly two years and nine months on that deployment.  We know that this is not the case.  His deployment to Egypt did not last for two years and nine months.   Do you not think that the missing time is a result of an error on Mr. Aden’s DD214?

As you said, this is not the sort of thing I have an intimate understanding of. As it has been explained to me, the full service time in the National Guard, whether active or not, counts towards the duration an MOS is

held.

Fair enough, we’ll move on.

Several different sources and personnel within the US Army have said that Mr. Aden never graduated Special Forces training, was never a green beret, and that he was mistakenly given the 18B designation on his paperwork.  So far the Aden campaign has produced only one fellow soldier who has vouched for Mr. Aden’s Special Forces status and that soldier has since recanted his support claiming he was misled by Mr. Aden.  Does the Aden campaign intend to produce anyone who can state that they taught, served with, or graduated from Special Forces training with Mr. Aden?

Another individual Ken served with has submitted a letter to us attesting to Ken's 18B qualifications; we're currently waiting to receive a signed and scanned copy. As you well know, not everyone has easy access to a scanner. However, due to a variety of inconsistencies with this newest order, both in its contradictions of previous statements made by military personnel and its highly irregular dissemination through the news media rather than the veteran himself, we are going to wait until we are satisfied with the validity of the 3 July 2012 order before we make any release.

In lieu of someone who may have witnessed his graduation readily available, does a

“Q” course certificate of graduation for Mr. Aden exist and will it be released for the public to see?

We have put in a request for Ken's full military record, and we eagerly await access to documents that it seems anyone but the veteran in question can gain access to with a simple phone call. We are also pursuing

legal means to expedite the release to Ken of his full service record. This campaign has always been completely forthcoming with military documentation, and the full file, when released, will be no exception.

With so many people within the Special Forces community and the Army in general saying that Mr. Aden did not graduate Special Forces training, how are you to expect 3^rd District voters to believe that all of these people, not to mention an institution such as the US Army, are wrong and that Mr. Aden is the one who is right?

So far, the only piece of documentation that has been provided by any legitimate news source has been the highly irregular 3 July 2012 order. Ken, on the other hand, has offered multiple documents attesting to

his 18B MOS. I would expect the people of the Third District to be able to make their judgment based off of facts, not assertions.

 It is my understanding that the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center issues Special Forces graduates a Yarbrough knife named for General William Yarbrough; known as the father of Special Forces.  While these knives are available for purchase without a serial number, each knife issued to a “Q” course graduate is said to have an individual serial number.  Can Mr. Aden produce his knife?

It is my understanding that the knife in question is issued upon the assignment of a Special Forces qualified soldier to a dedicated Special Forces unit. Ken did not serve in a dedicated SF unit, and has never stated otherwise.

What The Future May Hold

What do you think should happen to a political candidate if it is proven that the candidate has knowingly and willingly misrepresented something as hallowed as a military record or as relevant to governing as their education?

If such a thing were proven, I would say simply that it would be a factor (one of many) in voters' decisions come the election. However, you stress the importance that those things hold to many in what the reaction should be. I would say that such importance must also be a factor in judging whether or not such charges are "proven".

Richard Drake of the Arkansas Times wrote, “If Ken Aden has any defense at all, he

needs to make it, loudly. If he needs to apologize, then do so.”  He goes on to say “ultimately, if you have no defense, then don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.”  What is your response to Richard Drake’s comments?

My response is that the avenues to voice a defense that are available to your average, corporate-funded campaign are very different than those available to a truly grass-roots one. I'd go on to say that, given the

changing nature of these attacks from day to day--something that I personally find highly suggestive of an attempt to find something, anything that can stick--it would be ill-advised to wait until our detractors have settled on what their version of the facts is. At the moment, that still seems to be in flux.
I also find it incredibly amusing that, when Ken was simply running 253 miles to raise canned food for needy families in the District, or going out and talking about jobs, the environment, civil liberties, and the economy, no one was interested in what he had to say. Only now that we're being attacked and people think they smell blood in the water to they want to listen.

On that note, do you have any comments that could put to bed the growing rumors of Mr. Aden using the alias Kenneth Wade while operating a non-profit known as Citizens 4 Change in Dayton, Ohio back in 2010?

The paperwork filed with the Ohio Secretary of State in regards to Citizens 4 Change lists Ken's name as Kenneth Wade Aden. He did not use an "alias"; Wade is his middle name, and in informal settings he

sometimes eschewed his last name rather than his middle. Personally, I'm sickened that those assaulting Ken have stooped so low as to attack the great non-profit work he's done.

Ian, in closing, I want to thank you for your time and for your trust in The Progressive Cop to handle such an interview fairly and without bias.  It has been an honor to conduct this interview with you and I hope that it has answered many of the questions the public has demanded to have answered.  For many I suspect it will raise only more questions. Is there a venue for which the people can contact you should they have additional questions?

I can be reached at Ian4Arkansas@gmail.com. And I'd like to thank you for giving us a fair and impartial place to answer these allegations.

Conclusion

            

In agreeing to do this interview, I was torn between whether I should be moving on to other topics or risk making myself appear to be a spokesperson for the Aden Campaign.  The latter I can assure you I am not.

          Ultimately, I believe in democracy and I believe that freedoms of speech and the press were ensured by our Constitution in order to protect the right of the people to be informed of all issues that they vote on.  I believe that in this case, public opinion is turning overwhelmingly against Ken Aden and his candidacy.  Thankfully, I am in no position to stand in the way of that nor should I. 

I agreed to conduct this interview because I believe the voters, as well as all interested parties around the nation, have a right to hear both sides of the story.  I can see that to anyone who may still be undecided about Ken Aden, the chances of hearing both sides of the story are becoming slimmer as the masses become more and more anti-Aden.

  Although I have made up my mind as to what I believe about the issue-and I am not sharing that belief with anyone- I will continue to ensure that both sides of the issue are heard in a neutral manner because it is the people who must decide for themselves what they believe.

      I appreciate Mr. Gill having trusting me to be fair in my examination of their stance on the allegations that have been made against Ken Aden and I hope that I have not betrayed that trust with my line of questioning.  I know that Mr. Gill understands that regardless of my personal belief on the matter, I will report what he has said with integrity.

           In the end, whether elements of the Arkansas Democratic Party find success in removing Ken Aden from the ballot or whether Ken Aden finds a way to vindicate himself, I sincerely hope for the issue to come to a conclusion.

  Arkansan’s are honorable people and they do not deserve the black eye they have received by this

controversy. Likewise, the Arkansas Democratic Party has a long and rich history in the state and will spend years recovering from the damage done by this scandal.