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MA Senator Accused of Criminally Misusing Federal Funds
Gun owners who've been paying for her anti-rights campaign are furious.

April 4, 2001

(Boston, MA) -- Massachusetts government watch group Citizens for Truth in Politics (CTP) has filed formal complaints against State Senator Cheryl Jacques, charging her with criminal misuse of federally funded workers for political action.  CTP activists presented videotape and letters proving that Senator Jacques solicited the involvement of 150 federally funded City Year youth workers for the "First Monday" rally calling for more gun control legislation.  Jacques' office sponsored "First Monday" on October 2, 2000.

Federal law under U.S. Title 18, Sections 666 and 641 prohibit the use of federal funds for political purposes.  The law carries a penalty of fines and imprisonment of up to ten years.

"Senator Jacques deliberately misled City Year administrators into believing the rally was focused on public safety and was not a political rally," asserts CTP founder Lawrence Savage.  When City Year administrators learned of the political content, they were forced to withhold compensation from youth workers for the time worked at the rally.  "Senator Jacques basically stole these young people's labor," Savage said.  "We are calling for her to personally reimburse the youth workers and to resign her position." 

Irate City Year management immediately put into place measures to prevent further abuse, and offered other work opportunities to the workers. Over 20 City Year workers were used to set up shoes at Trinity Church for the "Silent March" exhibit and to attend the rally to boost tepid attendance.

Jacques, who has announced her candidacy for Lt. Governor, has skillfully used the issue of gun control to seize the media spotlight. She sponsored Massachusetts' 1998 gun control law, deemed the nations' toughest. Critics of the law blame it for the dramatic increase in violent crime recorded since the law went into effect. Civil rights groups from the Massachusetts Gun Owners' Action League to the Boston gay gun rights group the Pink Pistols have condemned the law, claiming it has actually increased crime and that it legalizes arbitrary discrimination by town police chiefs. 

Under Jacques' law, each town police chief has sovereign power to issue or withhold licenses based on any criteria they decide, without providing the reason to the applicant.  In the aftermath of the workplace shootings in Wakefield, Jacques called for even stronger gun control measures, but a letter printed in the Boston Herald on January 11 emphasizes that one of the Wakefield victims had a New Hampshire pistol permit and was denied a reciprocal license under Jacques' own law.  Senator Jacques is presently working with gun control groups nationwide to export similar laws to other states.


"Misusing public funds is criminal.  Exploiting City Year children is wrong. This Senator puts lives of Commonwealth citizens at risk to further her political career, and she uses our own money to do it."

"We are asking for criminal charges, absolutely," emphasized Richard Kramer, the CTP activist who obtained statements from City Year administrators proving Jacques' embezzlement.  "Misusing public funds is criminal.  Exploiting City Year children is wrong. This Senator puts lives of Commonwealth citizens at risk to further her political career, and she uses our own money to do it.  Public money should be used for schools and roads, not to fund the gun control lobby."  Kramer noted that a string of criminal scandals this past month has exposed how the gun control lobby bankrolls itself heavily from public funds.

In late February, California activist Jim March proved that the Million Mom March (MMM), newest member of the gun control lobby, had been fraudulently operating as "The Trauma Foundation", occupying an entire floor of a California state-funded hospital rent-free without the hospital's knowledge or consent, and funding its gun control programs with federal grants from the Center for Disease Control.  Evicted from the hospital by angry administrators, the MMM laid off 30 of 35 staffers, blaming "overly aggressive growth" in a New York Times article.  Officials place the value of public funds embezzled by MMM in the millions, and March expects criminal charges to be filed.  Jacques recently spoke at a Million Mom March meeting in Wakefield, and featured several MMM speakers at her "First Monday" rally.

Other recent criminal cases have dogged the gun control movement.  A D.C. jury recently convicted Million Mom March organizer Barbara Graham of stalking, shooting, and paralyzing an innocent man she mistakenly blamed for her son's murder.  Then, on March 23, a story in the Austin Statesman-American reported that Texas talk show host Alex Jones had shot videotape showing members of the gun control lobby paying cash payoffs to inner city children in exchange for testimony in favor of gun control proposals at Public Safety Committee hearings in Texas.

"The people who pass criminal records checks to get their gun licenses are not the criminals," Savage noted. "But the gun control lobbyists and the officials who are in their pocket could use some serious investigation."
 

About Senator Jacques' Criminal Activity

  • Citizens for Truth in Politics has documented that Senator Jacques improperly solicited federally funded City Year workers to assist with and attend First Monday, an anti-gun rally.

  • Senator Jacques misuse of federally funded workers for political action is an ethical violation and a criminal action, covered under embezzlement law (18 USC 641 and possibly 18 USC 666).  Violations are punishable by fine and imprisonment up to ten years.

  • An attached letter from Alyson Carpenter, City Year's Director of Government Relations, documents Jacques' criminal activity. Photos of the City Year workers assisting with the rally are attached.

  • A September 28, 2000 media advisory from Senator Jacques office promoting First Monday claims 150 City Year workers would be used to erect displays for the event.  A copy of the media advisory is attached.

  • First Monday drew almost no attendance, but drew a significant body of orderly and effective counter-protesters demonstrating against the widespread civil rights violations under Jacques' 1998 gun law, Chapter 180. If not for the attendance of the City Year youths, counter-protesters would have outnumbered supporters.

  • City Year administrators were misled by Senator Jacques into believing the event was a public safety event and not a political rally. When they realized the event's political nature, City Year administration reacted swiftly and correctly, withholding work credit for hours worked at the rally and instead offering other work opportunities to the kids. They put measures in place to prevent future misuse of their workers.

  • Unfortunately, since City Year could not legally credit their corps members for their rally attendance, the young City Year volunteer workers went uncompensated for their time at the rally.

  • City Year workers are young people who volunteer a year of service to their communities. They are paid a small hourly stipend to live on. Citizens For Truth in Politics holds City Year and the committed young people who volunteer their service in the highest regard and strongly condemns their exploitation for an elected official's personal gain. CTP also commends City Year administrators for their prompt and ethical handling of the situation.

  • We have called for Senator Jacques to personally compensate the City Year workers for their lost time and to resign her position.

  • Citizens for Truth in Politics has filed official complaints and demands for investigation and criminal prosecution in this matter. We have filed complaints with the U.S. Attorney in Boston, the U.S. Inspector General, the state Attorney General, and the State Ethics Commission.

Evidence Supporting This Legal Action Against Sen. Cheryl Jacques

Our complaints, sent to the:

Additional Information Relevant to this Case

About Citizens for Truth in Politics

Citizens for Truth in Politics was founded in September, 2000 by a grassroots group of Mass. citizens opposed to the State’s oppressive laws regarding gun ownership.  CTP’s first task was a peaceful public protest the First Monday 2000 gun control lobby event.

CTP believes that self defense is a basic human right and that citizen gun ownership is a cornerstone of freedom.  Americans lawfully use firearms over 5000 times every day to stop violent acts.  Ninety-eight percent of the time, the gun is never even fired.  An armed citizen is the best means of self defense and the most effective deterrent to violent crime.

Massachusetts’ gun laws, especially 1998’s Chapter 180, unjustly targets lawful gun owners without affecting the criminals ability to obtain and use firearms in violent crime.  Gun owners are not a crime problem.  The source of violence is in the hearts and minds of those who commit violent acts.

CTP is not a non-profit corporation and is staffed completely by volunteers.  CTP is thus free to engage in political action.

Citizens for Truth In Politics, P.O. Box 671, Sudbury, MA 01776, (508) 561-9107, CONTACT: Lawrence Savage