Howard Kaloogian

Kaloogian Strikes Yet (and Yet) Again

Paul Kiel | April 1, 2006, 12:00PM

Yes, that's right. Here's Howard Kaloogian, supposedly on the same trip when he visited his Turkish Baghdad - the caption on his site reads, "Howard in Aremenia, Mount Ararat in the background."

From the San Diego Union-Tribune's Logan Jenkins' April Fool's Day column:

In a snapshot in his photo gallery, Kaloogian is supposedly standing near Mount Ararat in "Aremenia." (Most of us know it as as Armenia.)

Thanks to a biblical blogger with an interest in geology, I have learned that the mountain in the photograph is not Mount Ararat, the post-flood landing platform for Noah's Ark.

No, a close analysis of the outcropping's outline proves that Kaloogian is actually posing in the San Pasqual Valley with a snow-capped Mount Palomar in the background. When told of the error, Kaloogian said, "I can't believe it. Somehow photos from my tour of the Wild Animal Park got switched with those taken on the Iraq trip."

Late Update: And yes, this was an April Fool's Day column in the truest sense. I'll admit - he got me. I blame Kaloogian.

Howard Kaloogian

The Baghdad Bamboozler Strikes Yet Again!

Justin Rood | March 31, 2006, 3:48PM

Oh, Howard. Howard Kaloogian, a GOP candidate for Randy "Duke" Cunningham's Congressional seat, came to our attention earlier this week when he misrepresented a photograph of a Turkish suburb as downtown Baghdad.

He apologized, and we were ready to move on. And then he pulled a similar stunt -- falsely claiming an endorsement from a prominent GOP state senator.

And today we find he's done it again! On his campaign Web site, Kaloogian lists the Center for Reclaiming America as endorsing his campaign. The right-wing Christian activist group was recently involved in a petition drive to keep Terry Schaivo's feeding tube inserted.

But John Aman, the group's media representative, said they have never endorsed Kaloogian. "The endorsement listed on the website is not correct. We don't endorse candidates," he told us.

When will this madness end?

Late Update: We missed one! The San Diego Union-Tribune discovered Kaloogian falsely claimed an endorsement from state Sen. Bill Morrow:

"Howard Kaloogian's campaign Web site includes a picture and a quote from me from 2001 that implies that I have endorsed his candidacy for Congress," Morrow, R-Carlsbad, said in a press release. "Howard knows that I have not endorsed his candidacy, and that I am running for the same congressional seat."

Another Late Update: Jonathan Krive, spokesman for Kaloogian, called us back. "I think that's just a mistake on the part of the webmaster," he said. They gotta get a new webmaster.

Howard Kaloogian

Baghdad Bamboozler Strikes Again!

Justin Rood | March 30, 2006, 5:08PM

Has Howard "You're Being Really Picky" Kaloogian been improperly portraying support from a prominent Calif. GOP leader?

From a statement today by Calif. State Sen. Tom McClintock:

"It has come to my attention that a campaign mailing on behalf of Howard Kaloogian includes a picture and quote from me that suggests that I have endorsed his candidacy for U. S. Congress. I have not."

Howard Kaloogian

Move America Forward's 990

Paul Kiel | March 30, 2006, 11:40AM

As we mentioned yesterday, Howard Kaloogian, of Turkish Baghdad fame, founded Move America Forward. They're a nonprofit and tax exempt 501(c)3 organization - and so required to be non-partisan. There are a number of organizations that push that line, but look at Move America Forward's past work and you can see that they push it more than most.

Because they're a non-profit, Move America Forward has to file publicly accessible disclosures, called 990s, with the IRS. We've posted their 2004 disclosure here. Take a look. We'd like to know, especially from TPMM readers who are experts on non-profits - how does it look to you?

Howard Kaloogian

Kaloogian's Iraq?

Paul Kiel | March 29, 2006, 6:57PM

There's no reason to wait around until Howard Kaloogian produces a photo that shows the Baghdad he found during his trip to Iraq, which "is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be."

You can look for yourself through the photos from the trip made available on Move America Forward's website. Let's see, is it this one, of Camp Victory, where the truth tellers stayed?

Or is it this one, of the bombed out Republican Guard palace, hosted on Truth Tour participant Mark Williams' site?

Maybe not. Keep looking.

Ed. Note: Thanks to TPM Reader CJ for the tip.

Late Update: See TPM for what Kaloogian came up with.

Howard Kaloogian

Picking up Biz on the Truth Tour

Paul Kiel | March 29, 2006, 5:54PM

Looks like while Howard Kaloogian was touring Iraq with the truth, his partner at Moving America Forward was signing contracts.

Sal Russo, who's the chief strategist for Move America Forward as well as the chief strategist for Kaloogian's campaign, is also one of the principals of Russo, Marsh, and Rogers, a big-hitting GOP consulting firm. Move America Forward operates out of the firm's offices.

On July 9th, 2005, Kaloogian and his five talk radio hosts went over to Iraq on their trip sponsored by Move America Forward. On July 13th, an item appeared in Jack O'Dwyer's Newsletter, which reports on the PR industry, that Sal Russo's firm had picked up a contract to "to get 'free media' to promote the interests of the Kurds in the post-Hussein Iraq." And that business also extended to the U.S. market - Russo, Marsh, and Rogers were hired to produce ads stateside. The Wall Street Journal described it as a "political-advertising contract with the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq" to produce "advertisements that run in the U.S. seeking investment in Kurdistan."

Howard Kaloogian

Kaloogian: I'm Sorry, Photo Was a Mistake

Justin Rood | March 29, 2006, 4:37PM

"I just returned from a 10-day trip to Iraq," begins GOP candidate Howard Kaloogian's Web essay on his experiences visiting troops in the country. The page, part of his campaign Web site, includes photographs and captions which illustrate his point: the situation in Iraq is "absolutely counter" to what the "old-line media" reports.

His web page, like his argument, is loosely knit. And when independent researchers yesterday tugged at one string -- the veracity of a photo caption -- the rest of it has begun to unravel.

A bit of checking revealed Kaloogian did not "just return" from his trip, but in fact got back to California in July 2005. "I talk about my trip that way," Kaloogian told me when we spoke late this afternoon. "I speak to groups that way -- I didn't mean I did it this week. That was my trip last year. . . I took my vacation time to go to Iraq." He wrote the piece late last year, he said, when he launched his candidacy for convicted felon Randy "Duke" Cunningham's old House seat.

Read more »

Howard Kaloogian

Some History on Kaloogian's Move America Forward

Paul Kiel | March 29, 2006, 4:29PM

Howard Kaloogian's "Truth Tour" to Iraq in July, 2005 was sponsored by Move America Forward, a non-profit, "non-partisan" outfit that Kaloogian founded. You might have never heard of them before, but you certainly know their work. It includes:

-- Producing a series of TV ads late last year that claimed Iraq did in fact have WMDs;

-- Shuttling pro-war protestors to Crawford to counter Cindy Sheehan's "Camp Casey" as part of their "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy" tour;

-- a campaign supporting John Bolton's contentious nomination" for UN ambassador - including financing the ad campaign in Ohio that attacked Sen. George Voinivich (R-OH) for not backing Bolton;

-- backing U.S. detention policies at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by selling 'I [Heart] Gitmo' bumper stickers."

The "Truth Tour" sent five conservative radio-talk-show hosts to U.S. military bases in Baghdad for "a week of upbeat broadcasts."

And according to the WSJ, the group grew out of the successful 2003 recall effort in California.

Howard Kaloogian

Kaloogian Campaign Goes to Ground

Justin Rood | March 29, 2006, 2:40PM

The Kaloogian for Congress campaign is no longer making the candidate available for interviews or making comments on the Iraq photo fiasco.

Which is too bad, because we have a few questions. For instance, the page featuring the photo includes text by Kaloogian beginning, "I just got back from Iraq." Yet he appears to have gone there in July 2005 -- several months before he entered the House race, or created the Web site. Was this an oversight akin to the bad Baghdad pic?

And who exactly snapped the photo, anyway? And who approved its use?

We may yet find out, but not from the Kaloogian campaign. Calvin Collins, campaign manager for Howard Kaloogian's bid for Randy "Duke" Cunningham's old House seat, said that the Kaloogian was not available to be interviewed, and no one else was speaking on his behalf. "No one is giving any comments," Collins told me.

It's pretty clear there wasn't just one wrong step here, but a series of doozies. Coming in the middle of a highly-charged debate over what the ground truth in Iraq is, Kaloogian's already facing accusations he's deliberately making this stuff up to support his argument that Baghdad is calm. Why won't he come clean and explain how it all happened?

Howard Kaloogian

Kaloogian Defended Bogus Iraq Photo

Justin Rood | March 29, 2006, 2:10PM

It now appears California GOP Congressional hopeful Howard Kaloogian was for his misidentified "Iraq" photo before he was against it. (Google cache of photo here -- it's third from top)

In a post on the Democratic Underground web site, "KBlagburn" wrote yesterday of a conversation he had with Kaloogian in which he tried to bring the error to the candidate's attention. Kaloogian stood by the photo and caption, according to KBlagburn.

Kaloogian's campaign did not confirm the conversation but said it was possible. "If that's the case, it's because [Kaloogian] didn't have the correct information," campaign volunteer David Krive told me.

Krive said he first heard Kaloogian admit the error this morning, in a phone conversation with a newspaper reporter.

Howard Kaloogian

Kaloogian's Webmaster

Paul Kiel | March 29, 2006, 1:50PM

Just to be clear about what Howard Kaloogian means could mean when he says "webmaster," we called Allen Valkoun of MDKS, the company that developed the program that runs Kaloogian's website. He said that they "don't have control of the content," and that the images are entered by who he called the "webmaster." In Kaloogian's case, he said he thought it was someone on his staff.

Howard Kaloogian

Kaloogian Blames Iraq Photo Error on Staffer

Justin Rood | March 29, 2006, 1:06PM

Oops.

Howard Kaloogian, a leading GOP candidate for Randy "Duke" Cunningham's seat in Congress, posted a photo on his Web site of a quiet Turkish suburb. No problem there -- but his site said it was of Baghdad, taken during his trip there. He called it proof that Iraq was calmer than the media was reporting.

Josh tells the story at TPM of how the blogosphere rounded up a posse and proved the pic was a fake -- or rather, the pic was real, but the caption was hooey.

We reached Kaloogian by phone moments ago. Here's what he had to say:

[O]n the way back from Baghdad some of the crew stopped in Istanbul as a layover. We turned all the photographs [from the trip] over to the webmaster, and it appears he took one from the stopover and not from Baghdad. If a mistake happened, we'll correct it.

Kaloogian noted that he brought back "hundreds and hundreds" of photographs from the trip. He declined to identify his webmaster's name, saying only that he was "a member of my staff."