Donahue Denies Conversation with Lt Gen Helland in Hutchins Case…And Still Gets Caught

A retired Marine officer has denied charges that he spoke with Hutchins case convening authority Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland regarding the disposition of Sgt Larry Hutchins.

In an email to me that was copied to several other parties, Major Herbert W. (Bill) Donahue, Jr., vehemently denied any involvement with Gen. Helland, and threatened legal action against me for “libel/slander and defamation of character.”

Donahue did not stop there, however, and went on to accuse me of “impugning the integrity of several ethical attorneys,” among other things. The email basically degenerated into a personal attack, including several false accusations that are easily disproved if I can be bothered to go back two years in email and post the truth–which by the way, I would have already done if I wasn’t moving to Washington State tomorrow. Donahue wrapped up with yet another legal threat–certain, I’m sure, that I would cower in fear and immediately retract everything I’ve posted. Maybe weak-minded men with no honor do that sort of thing, but I don’t.

While Donahue’s threat is far from the first I’ve received, it rivals the ones I get from the Pakistani Islamics for its sheer humor potential–and the Pakistanis threaten me with photos of Freddy Krueger and Batman captioned by broken English, so that should give you an idea of where I put the good Major’s bluffy whining. Not only am I completely comfortable with the idea of being sued for this, I welcome a lawsuit. It will open the door for Tim Harrington, me, and others to talk about Larry Hutchins’ case freely in open court, including the way it’s been engineered by the Marine Corps leadership since day one–something, by the way, that not even Sgt Hutchins has been able to do yet. Sadly, however, I fear that the lawsuit isn’t going to be coming anytime soon.

“But he sounds serious!” you say. Yes, he does. Of course, he also sounded serious when he threatened fellow Marine Tim Harrington with the same type of lawsuit only a little over a month ago. What, pray tell, could he have wanted to sue Tim over? Let’s take a peek at an email written by Donahue to Harrington on April 23.

“It is now obvious that you have called me a liar and other things, behind my back,” writes Donahue. “From what I was told, you told at least one person that I was a liar, that I was not in touch with senior officers – especially LtGen Helland – and some other things, things that question my integrity, honesty and personal reputation. [...] I am going to pursue filing a civil case against you for defamation of character (slander).”

Yes, you read that right. He threatened to sue Tim Harrington because Tim didn’t buy Donahue’s story about being buddies with General Helland.

In my response to the Major’s “festering, pungent missive (longtime ER readers will recognize that inside joke),” I pointed out the apparent Catch-22 situation Donahue now finds himself in–with a small amount of glee, I admit.

“Here’s the thing, Major. You have to pick one. Either the conversation happened, and then you can sue Tim for calling you a liar, or it didn’t happen, and you can sue me for believing your lies about it. Kind of sticky, isn’t it? I’m just curious…which version of the story did you give to Kevin McDermott? How about the Hutchins family? Most importantly, what did you feed to Larry himself?”

Oddly enough, I haven’t seen another answer from Major Donahue or even something from Kevin McDermott, although I’ve been checking my email quite often. I was certain Donahue would have a perfectly logical explanation for the contradictory stories, so when I didn’t see anything in my inbox, I also checked my spam folder and even the trash. For some reason, my email is more silent than a church mouse at noon. I just don’t get it.

Captain Don Greenlaw and others will sit at home this Saturday, barred from visiting Sgt Hutchins on his last weekend in Camp Pendleton, by email order of Hutchins’ attorney and Major Donahue–even though their contributions to Sgt Hutchins’ well-being and that of his family go far beyond anyone’s idea of “duty.” Meanwhile, those of us who have been here fighting the information battle for two years will remain. Tim Harrington, Walt Fitzpatrick, and the rest of us have been threatened with far worse than a lawsuit, and by far more worthy adversaries than a retired Marine officer who fancies himself to be a high roller. So we will keep doing what we do, until the fight is done.

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