WASHINGTON — Under fire for accusations of stolen valor, U.S. Rep.
is doubling down on defending his military record by blaming “the establishment” forces seeking to discredit him. Nehls, R-Richmond, has been under intense scrutiny over his display of a combat service badge that the Army revoked and removed from his service record last year. Nehls, who represents a large swath of suburbs southwest of Houston, released what he called a “final written comment” on the controversy Tuesday afternoon.
Nehls did not dispute that his Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) had been revoked by the Army, but offered no explanation for why he continued to wear it until as recently as this month. The congressman instead accused his critics of using the military to undermine him for his hardline conservative views. Nehls is a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus.
“Unfortunately for me, as an America First Patriot and an outspoken member of Congress, there are no lengths to which the establishment won’t go to discredit me, including my CIB, which I was awarded over 14 years ago,” Nehls said in his Tuesday statement. “Nothing more needs to be said.” On Wednesday, Nehls had apparently stopped wearing the badge.
“Because you guys are vultures,” he told reporters, according to , a nonprofit newsroom. “I know what I’ve done, and I certainly don’t have to justify myself to you guys. You were probably in middle school when I was over there.
So I don’t have to justify myse.
