Mollohan Goes Negative, Launches Desperate Attack on Wakim

More than three months before the general election, embattled Congressman Alan Mollohan, D-Fairmont, yesterday launched a baseless attack on the character and integrity of his opponent, Delegate Chris Wakim, R-Wheeling.

Yesterday, Congressman Mollohan alleged that Wakim severely embellished his military and academic credentials on his resume. Mollohan alleged that Wakim was not truly a veteran of the first Gulf War and misstated the master's degree he earned from Harvard University.

In his response, Wakim noted that his claim of Persian Gulf War veteran status is correct based on federal law governing veteran classifications, that he truthfully stated the nature of his master's degree and that Mollohan is simply trying to fabricate a smoke screen to divert attention from his mushrooming scandals involving Mollohan obtaaining hundreds of millions of dollars of federal earmarks for a network of nonprofit groups founded by Mollohan and whose officers and directors are generous Mollohan campaign contributors and investment partners.

Mollohan's attacks are simply without merit. Delegate Wakim has consistently represented his military and academic credentials as clearly and accurately as possible. Most interesting to note is that while serving our nation in the military following his graduation from West Point, Wakim earned a master's degree from Harvard. Wakim's worst grade at Harvard was a B- in contemporary moral issues. I would dare not speculate how Beach House Al would fare in a course on contemporary moral issues. Maybe he would get lucky and not have a segment on financial relationships between congressmen and the recipients of federal funds earmarked by the congressman.