Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele Friday assailed Republican gubernatorial rival Tom Foley's assertion on federal background-check forms that he'd never been charged with anything more than a "minor traffic offense" -- even though Foley had been arrested, but not convicted, on charges of first-degree attempted assault in 1981 and breach of peace in 1993.
"You have to question the judgment of someone who falsified his national security clearance documents," said Fedele, one of Foley's two opponents for the governor's nomination in the Aug. 10 GOP primary. "It's a pattern of distorting the truth, not disclosing details, shading the truth about his bankruptcy and layoffs, refusing to open sealed documents relating to past arrests and dodging questions about whether he paid his taxes or lied on the background check for his national security clearance."
Fedele made his comments in a statement issued Friday morning -- after The Courant published a story in which Foley said he'd answered "no" on federal background-check forms when asked if he'd ever been arrested on more than a minor traffic charge. The questionnaire forms were for posts in the administration of President George W. Bush; Foley served as as ambassador to Ireland, from October 2006 to January 2009, after serving in Iraq from August 2003 through March 2004 as director of private sector development for the Coalition Provisional Authority.
One of the forms asked the question: "Have you ever been charged with or convicted of any felony offense?"