Richard Hine, state assistant attorney general and fellow Marine, is calling Blumenthal out for his previous claims. Hime has worked for Blumenthal for more than 20 years and said he felt he needed to come forward because what Blumenthal did went against the code of being a Marine:
"This has to do with integrity, has to do with qualifications for office and with a very personal conversation back in January or February, 1991," he said. ...
"As a Marine, you don't lie," he said. "He (Blumenthal) has forgotten whatever he learned at Parris Island."
Hine, who originally wrote to several newspapers throughout the state, says his revelations were ignored by almost all news outlets. ...The New York Times reported last month that Blumenthal's claims contradicted his military service record and the campaign called the story an outrageous distortion of his record. After national outcry, Blumenthal eventually apologized for "misspeaking."
Hine said Blumenthal first lied to him about his service record while attorney general as Hine was making preparations for service during Operation Desert Storm, the first Iraq War.
According to Hine, Blumenthal expressed concern about his family should he be sent to Iraq and made sure he would be available to Hine’s family should they need him.
“He then said that ‘you as a major would have it easier than I did as an enlisted man in Vietnam’,” Hine said, recalling that the conversation that happened in Blumenthal’s office on the seventh floor at 55 Elm St., Hartford. “I knew right there that he was lying.”
Hine said he felt he needed to speak up.
“It was a combination of him not being honest and raising his service to shield him from a lie,” he said. “That’s my Marine Corps and I hold myself to a high standard as do all Marines.”