F-35 opponents claim basing decision rigged by Vt. National Guard, Leahy
May 18, 2018
Opponents of bringing the F-35 to Burlington are raising new allegations of wrongdoing by the Vermont National Guard and Senator Patrick Leahy. They are demanding a federal probe into what they call unethical, and perhaps illegal conduct, in key decisions to base the fighter jet in Vermont. Both the Guard and Leahy are calling the charges bogus.
Longtime F-35 opponent Rosanne Greco and a group she calls the ‘Search Party,’ claim to have uncovered damning information about the Vermont Guard and Senator Patrick Leahy in 68,000 pages of military correspondence.
“You can see the actual emails and who’s talking to who,” Greco said. “We finally decided if we didn’t go through this, the truth would be buried forever.”
She got the emails after a failed lawsuit to stop the next generation fighter jets from coming to Vermont. Although the suit was unsuccessful, it led to the release of emails between the Guard and the Air Force about the F-35. Greco’s group started to pour over them.
