On his website, Gomez falsely claims to be President of the Navy SEAL Foundation of New England. And it’s still up, three months after he got caught (screen-capped to avoid mischief). Add that to recent news of his financial dealings and his general willingness to put himself about principle, and it makes me wonder:
What else is he lying about in his biography? Was he ever really a Navy SEAL/pilot? Let’s see the proof before we believe it.
Discuss
13 Comments . Leave a comment below.Gomez is the president of the Navy Seal Foundation New England, Inc., according to Mass Secretary of State records. This is a separate organization from the national foundation referred to above. Gomez’s organization was formed in September 2012.
There is no useful information available from Charity Navigator or GuideStar, and perhaps no IRS filings have yet been made.
A quick web search shows no information on the activities of the New England Foundation other than the link to Gomez’s announcement.
There was a fundraiser event last July. All the news articles on that link developer Joe Fallon and Jim Smith, the director of the national Foundation. The only involvement noted anywhere in that effort by Gomez are in comments from Jeff Sabados, who co-founded the New England group with Gomez. The website for the organization/July event is some random Japanese placeholder site at newarriorbenefit.org
Conservatives4Congress.com quotes
One would think there would be a lot more information about this organization and Gomez’s role.
Guidestar specifically says that IRS filing HAVE been made. Also, IRS Form 990 is filed in May, not April like other tax forms, and later if there is an extension. So not having that filing on line isn’t sinister either.
Charity Navigator says it has no rating because it has been in existence less than 5 years. Even then, it does not rate charities with less than $1 million per year so thousands of legitimate organizations are not rated.
Carry on.
GuideStar says that the organization is REGISTERED with the IRS, not that it has filed anything.
It says that “Form 990 is not available for this organization.” Does that mean it is not filed or just not accessible by or through GuideStar? Don’t know.
Is it sinister to say that “no useful information is available” from these sources? You may infer my sinister intentions if you desire, but all my comment is saying is that there ain’t a lot of information out there about a seemingly significant resume item–and one which I correct the OP that he wasn’t lying about.
They’ve BEEN busy…
The Form 990 had to be POSTMARKED by May 15th, unless an extension was filed which would mean it wouldn’t be due at the IRS until September…
To think the IRS would have opened, examined, and POSTED ONLINE the 2012 Form 990 in less than two weeks is silly.
You’re trying to drum up suspicion where nothing is out of order.
Take the IRS filing however you want. Perhaps nothing is out of order as you say, but we don’t know. Thank you for pointing that out.
Unless somebody thinks that Mr. Gomez wasn’t actually a Navy Seal at all, what on Earth does his military records have to do with his involvement in a not-for-profit organization?
Royall Switzler was a righteous fire ‘n brimstone Republican State Rep who’d been a Special Forces Captain in Vietnam. Except when he ran for Governor, it came out that he was actually a supply sergeant in Korea during the Vietnam War. Oops.
If somebody is claiming that their military service gives them a “unique perspective,” it’s not unreasonable to ask that they document it.
I just don’t see the connection between:
(a) What were your roles, positions, and experiences as a member of the US military,
.. and ..
(b) What is your official position for a not for profit organization not officially a part of the US military
But it’s hard to prove a negative, especially without the records. Seeing this story reinforces my doubts, because if he’s willing to mislead about one aspect of his experience, why not another? As the one who claims some special accomplishment, the burden of proof should be on him to show us he was a SEAL.
This is an example that relates more to Gomez. Jesse Ventrua was claiming to be a SEAL when in fact he was a member of the UDTs. Not a distinction most would know about, but former SEALs thought it was important for Ventura to make a distinction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ventura#Navy_SEAL_background_controversies
If you’re asking for Gomez to release his military records in principle there is not wrong with this. Some might be surprised to find out that part of his military files could be classified, therefore can’t and won’t be released. Now to be fair. Mr. Markey should also be demanded to release his military records. I’m really curious to see if Mr. Markey will answer the question on how he got into the Army reserve in 1968, when the Army reserve had no slot openings and the waiting list was 6 months and longer. Did Mr. Markey pay to get in the Army Reserves?
I wouldn’t hold my breath on Mr. Markey releasing his military records, we’re still waiting for him to release his tax returns and less I not remind, John Kerry to this day has refused to release all is military records.
…of John Kerry’s military service has been available to the public for almost 8 years now.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/06/07/kerry_allows_navy_release_of_military_medical_records/
Stop watching Fox News.
to three newspapers, including the Boston Globe. The result? There was very little that had not been on web site for 2 years around the time he ran for President.
The differences were that there was a new cover letter to Kerry’s last VN fitness report – that recommended him for accelerated promotion. In addition, there were Kerry’s Yale grades – which got most of the coverage rather than the fact that the records Kerry had available on his website were complete. (Kerry did NOT have the medical records, but those were made available to the press to view for a period in 2004)
This, like Obama’s birth certificate, show that NO amount of proof ever changes the right wing story. I constantly see that Kerry did not release his records – when he did sign exactly the form they wanted and had them sent directly to 3 newspapers.
Now, why does the loony right STILL say that he did not do so? The reason is that NONE of their imaginary negative stuff EVER existed. This – even though – people with very creative imaginations made up very detailed possibilities. The fact is – that whether they like his politics or him – he was a genuine war hero – something the Nixon administration spoke of on their secret tapes. Do you honestly think that they did not look to see if there was anything which with they could discredit him? Remember that on one tape, they refer to fearing him, unlike the rest of the anti-war movement – because he was clean, articulate and a war hero.
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