In his latest letter
to New
Hampshire New Hampshire
News
from:
ANDY MARTIN /2018
Republican candidate for Congress
First Congressional District
www.AndyMartin.com
www.FirstRespondersOnline.us
Headquarters:
E-mail:AndyNewHampshire@aol.com
Tel. (603) 518-7310
Fax (866) 214-3210
Blogs:
www.AndyMartinforCongress.blogspot.com
www.AndyMartinforCongress.wordpress.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
This letter is one of New Hampshire First District congressional
candidate Andy Martin’s continuing reports to the citizens of his district
Today Martin explains why Fake News is undermining New Hampshire
(MANCHESTER , NH September 6, 2018 )
Dear New Hampshire Citizen:
This is my fourteenth letter
to you from the congressional campaign trial. Today I explain how local media
are undermining your democracy and in the process destroying the backbone of a
free press. And, today the Union leader furnishes the ultimate example of Fake
News.
When President Trump first
started attacking the “Fake News media” people thought he was exaggerating. He
was not. Biased news and selective reporting are a growing cancer on the First
Amendment.
In the colonial period
and thereafter, 1750-1850, media were utterly biased, which is why Congress
adopted the First Amendment to protect free speech by all. Almost anyone could
start a newspaper then by scraping together the cash for a small printing
press.
Today the costs of
creating new media range from prohibitively expensive (a new newspaper) to impossible
(government regulation and control of the airwaves). So we rely on the limited
number of legacy media to present news reasonably fairly and accurately. They
do not.
In New Hampshire
Let’s start with the ultimate
in Fake News, a false story by the Union Leader today. In an earlier email I
mentioned the debate being held this evening. I even predicted the Union Leader
would attempt to deceive readers. How right I was! The debate is sponsored by
WMUR, the Union Leader and the NHIOP at St Anselm’s. Kevin Landrigan, who may
be the “dirtiest” journalist in New Hampshire
During this primary
campaign I have totally thrown over the tables of the media frauds and the
toxic distortions of the local political class. Using my knowledge of the
“Right to Know law,” usually called “freedom of information,’ and judicial
procedure, I have negotiated the disclosure of thousands of pages of documents
involving Andy Sanborn and Eddie Edwards and thrown their campaigns into
disarray.
I was also the first to
attack Maura Sullivan for falsely claiming in her advertising and speeches that
she had “fought” in Iraq
In sum and substance, I
have waged a devastating primary campaign against my opponents but you would
never know that because the Fake News media have suppressed virtually all
mention of my efforts.
Let’s take a look:
1. Fake News by WMUR
A. The Andy Sanborn files
In June, I negotiated the release of what became over a thousand
pages of documents concerning Andy Sanborn. Before me, others such as (I
believe) Susan Olsen and Robert Clegg, had failed to obtain the release of the
Sanborn documents (please see link #2] below, where Ethan Dewitt has done some
excellent Sanborn analysis but also fails to mention my name). In fact, I
believe (not 100% sure) that even John DiStaso had tried and failed to obtain
the release of Sanborn materials.
I announced in an email
I had negotiated an agreement with the Attorney General to release the Sanborn
documents. What did DiStaso do? The moment he learned of my agreement he
cut-and-pasted his own RTK request using my original. Then, when the materials were released
in July, he claimed, falsely, that “WMUR had obtained” the documents without
mentioning he was piggybacking on my successful negotiation.
All summer “Dissembler DiStaso”
has continued to lie to viewers and readers by falsely claiming he secured
release of the Sanborn files, when he had failed to do so.
Why is the fact that I
obtained the release significant? For two reasons. First, when others try and
fail to accomplish a task, the identity of the person who actually succeeds is
obviously part of the story. Second, using my legal and political expertise, I
was and am still running an effective campaign, though you would never know
that from DiStaso’s false claims he is securing release of the Sanborn files. In
other words, DiStaso is literally extinguishing my campaign and its
effectiveness, to falsely portray himself as a successful document digger, when
that is not the case.
B. The Eddie Edwards files
Once again, DiStaso is exposed as incompetent and lazy. The
Edwards Settlement Agreement was negotiated in 2013. Edwards became a
candidate in 2017. DiStaso, once again, did nothing about the Settlement
until I announced I was seeking a copy in 2018.
Here is what DiStaso said:
(please see link [2] below)
“WMUR received the
settlement agreement from the attorney general's office in July of this year,
after filing a right-to-know request with the human rights commission.” In so
far as I am aware, the Human Rights Commission was never involved. But, once
again, DiStaso had done nothing for five (5) years. He didn’t take any action
until I announced I was going after the Settlement Agreement and only then
asked the Attorney General for a copy. Once again, DiStaso erased my
instigation of the release, trying to falsely portray himself as having obtained
the materials on his own. Once again, the effectiveness of my research and
analysis in the campaign was not credited.
I could go on, but you get
the picture. DiStaso seeks to claim credit for my work without a single mention
of who obtained release of the materials he is using. His behavior is crass, inconsistent
with journalistic ethics and designed to destroy my campaign by pretending I do
not exist. Political bias? Personal bias? Who knows?
2. Fake News by the
Union Leader
A. The Andy Sanborn files
When the original Sanborn files story broke, Liar Landrigan
was away and the story was covered by another reporter who mentioned my name. By
the time the final documents were released I had been erased and replaced by
“many media,” all of whom piggybacked on my original agreement. The fact that I
succeeded after others unsuccessfully tried to obtain the same material was
left unmentioned (as it was in Ethan Dewitt’s report in the Concord
Of course, if you were
looking to your “local newspaper” to inform you what the candidates were doing,
the reporters pretend there are only two candidates running. No wonder voters
are confused and losing interest in voting.
B. The Eddie Edwards files
Remember that the
Settlement with Edwards was signed five (5) years ago. No one reported on the document
until I filed a Right to Know request and sought disclosure. What did Liar
Landrigan write: “Edwards offered new details
… following a Right to Know Law inquiry made by the New Hampshire RTK request that
secured release of the Settlement. (I am going to court Friday to seek more
disclosures about both Sanborn and Edwards.)
Reading the Union Leader you would think I did not exist
all summer, when in reality my campaign activity was turning the campaigns of
my opponents upside down and creating massive disruptions for them. Liar Landrigan
takes his readers for dopes who will accept whatever drivel he pushes out as “news.”
Thanks to the Internet, Landrigan has been exposed as a habitual liar, who no
doubt lies at the direction of his employer Joe McQuaid.
The Union leader is an embarrassment to journalism, and I
will have more to say about that after the primary. I ain’t finished by a long
shot.
c. The Maura Sullivan fake “fighting a war” claims
Liar Landrigan did a front-page story on Maura Sullivan’s
false claims she had “fought in Iraq
d. The Balsams cover-up
Several months ago the Union Leader reported state
officials were ready to approve a $28 million “guarantee” for redevelopment of
The Balsams report in the North Country . Last month, the application for a state handout was withdrawn.
What happened? I battled the developers, and state officials ultimately had to
agree that The Balsams paperwork was nothing but a taxpayer giveaway with no hope
of repayment. “Andy Martin blocks $28 taxpayer giveaway?” Big news? No news.
Not one word of my successful participation has ever appeared in the Union
Leader.
Once again, how would
you know I am succeeding as a candidate, if local media completely erase my
efforts from their reporting? Once again, Fake News, intended to mislead
readers as to who is doing what.
Of course, the ultimate
humiliation for the Union leader comes today, when the newspaper is sponsoring
a debate where I am appearing, and Landrigan fails to list the names of the
participating candidates, trying to pretend the debate is only between two
candidates excluding me. Fake News. What a disgrace to journalism.
By depriving you of
information about who is running and what the candidates are accomplishing
during the campaign, the media are lying to you and undermining our democracy,
which is based on the theory of an informed electorate.
WMUR has interviewed numerous
candidates in the Second Congressional District, and my opponents in the First,
but excluded me. Fair or unbalanced? The blatant bias speaks for itself. (My
exclusion was apparently the work of Adam Sexton, not DiStaso.)
My late Uncle William
Vasiliou, who was a proud UNH graduate, used to say he was a “”facts and figures man.” I
succeeded to his mantle. I deal in facts and figures (see links below), and that
is why I succeed where others do not. But the future looks depressing for New Hampshire
Internet news
anyone?
Respectfully,
Andy Martin
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LINKS TO THIS STORY
(cut and paste the entire link below and not just the underlined portion):
[1]
[2]
[3]
New citations after emailing:
ANDY MARTIN - A BRIEF BIO :
Andy Martin is a
legendary New Hampshire-based muckraker, author, Internet columnist, talk
television pioneer, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. With fifty
years of background in radio and television and with five decades of intelligence,
investigative and analytical experience in Washington USA
Andy has also been a leading corruption fighter in American
politics and courts for fifty years and is executive director of the National
Anti-Corruption Policy Institute. See also www.FirstRespondersOnline.us; www.AmericaisReadyforReform.com.
He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of
Illinois College of Law and is a former adjunct professor of law at the City
University of New York (LaGuardia CC, Bronx CC).
He is the author
of “Obama: The Man Behind The Mask” [www.OrangeStatePress.com] and produced the
Internet film “Obama: The Hawaii’ Years” [www.BoycottHawaii.com]. Andy is the
Executive Editor and publisher of the “Internet Powerhouse,” blogging at www.contrariancommentary.wordpress.com
and www.ContrarianCommentary.com.
Andy’s family
immigrated to Manchester , New
Hampshire Merrimack River and he lives around the corner from where
he played as a small boy. He is New Hampshire
UPDATES:
www.twitter.com/AndyMartinUSA
www.Facebook.com/AndyMartin
Andy’s opinion columns are posted at ContrarianCommentary.com, ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com and ContrarianCommentary.wordpress.com
[NOTE: We try to correct any typographical errors in our stories; find the latest version on our blogs and don’t hesitate to let us know if you find an error.]
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© Copyright by Andy Martin 2018 – All
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