‘When vindictive leftists get in charge’: VA suspends benefits for Jan. 6 prisoner held in DC gulag

The DOJ has spitefully instructed the Department of Veterans Affairs to allegedly suspend all benefits going to a Jan. 6 detainee named Kenneth Harrelson, who has had his bank account frozen and has already been imprisoned for over a year.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) blasted the move, asserting “This is what you have when vindictive leftists get in charge of major parts of the government,” in an interview with The Epoch Times.

“What we’re seeing is when immoral, mean-spirited, leftist people take over the government, they use every aspect of the government in order to try to inflict their hatred on people with whom they disagree. Even after most of the Democrats in the House of Representatives obstructed an official session of Congress back in June 2016, at that time, none of us were saying these people have got to be put in jail,” he recounted.

“We just wanted to be able to go back into session as the majority. But when they have power, obstructing an official session of Congress — which is the worst charge many of the January Sixers were charged with — we see the left wanting to bury them, take away any benefit, destroy their lives and not only their lives they want to destroy their homes, destroy their children’s lives. This is an evil, toxic atmosphere when these types of people are in control of so much of the federal government,” Gohmert asserted.

An unsigned letter from the VA that was dated June 13 informed Harrelson and his wife, Angel, that the administration “received information from the United States Department of Justice” that he had been “indicted and charged with Seditious Conspiracy (18 U.S.C 2384).”

“Pursuant to 38 U.S. Code § 6105(a) after receiving notice of an indictment for the above offense” the “VA must suspend payment of gratuitous benefits pending disposition of the criminal proceedings. If convicted, gratuitous benefits are forfeited, automatically, from and after the date of the offense,” the letter noted.

The VA went on to state that they will suspend “compensation benefit payments effective September 1, 2022, which is the first day of the month following a 60-day due process period.”

“If you are subsequently acquitted of this charge, payments can be resumed from the date of suspension, if otherwise in order. If you are convicted, benefits will be retroactively terminated effective January 5, 2021, the date proceeding the offense, or from the date your award commenced, whichever is later,” the letter added.

“Somebody knew what they were doing when they sent that letter without a signature, without a name,” Gohmert charged.

“That’s the kind of hiding behind a federal position you get when you have evil, abusive, vindictive people in federal employment. They knew what they were doing when they sent that without a signature and without their name on it. That should make them feel a little more Kafkaesque, just anonymously charging people,” he remarked.

“Hopefully, we can clean up the government and get rid of people who are abusing their positions and doing so vindictively, like whoever sent this letter. They weren’t even following the law. They’re abusing the law, abusing their position, and hiding behind anonymity. These are the kinds of people who need to be gone from the federal employment,” he asserted.

According to the original criminal complaint, Harrelson was charged with Conspiracy (1) Obstruction of an Official Proceeding and Aiding and Abetting (2) Destruction of Government Property and Aiding and Abetting (3) Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds (4) Tampering with Documents or Proceedings (5). He was taken into custody at his home in Titusville, Florida on March 10, 2021.

Harrelson’s wife has also lost her job over this. It has had a devastating effect on the family and losing his VA benefits adds to the persecution they feel.

“I have asked so many of the other veterans who are in prison from January 6 and no one else has received this, not even the others on the Oath Keepers case,” Angel Harrelson said. “Ken is the only one. That’s why I want this to go public because we are being targeted. Probably because I won’t shut up.”

“We are being targeted because I am going out there in public and I won’t shut up about any of this, and what’s the one way to get someone to shut up? Take everything from them,” she posited.

When she was asked by The Epoch Times what she intends to do now, she stated, “Be louder.”

She has 60 days to make a plan before the loss of benefits kicks in.

“I’m going to call the real estate agent. I have no choice I have to put this house up for sale,” she sadly commented. “We don’t want it to go into foreclosure because that will ruin our credit. We’ll be able to do something later. I’m going to have to pay for another storage unit because the one I have isn’t going to be big enough. I will probably lose his truck. There’s nothing I can do about that, because if I don’t sell it, we’ll end up being homeless.”

They reportedly can’t move in with family because they have three children. No one has room. Both of their parents are deceased and they refuse to burden friends by asking to move in while they get on their feet.

“I heard about this. That’s a big story,” Joseph McBride, who is an attorney for a number of other Jan. 6 prisoners and defendants, told The Epoch Times. “This is disgusting. It’s completely [expletive] up. Kenny Harrelson is entitled to his benefits. He’s merely been accused of a crime and the idea he is going to be stripped of his military medical benefits is without question a violation of his due process rights. That’s crazy. It’s a disgrace. It’s an absolute disgrace. He’s accused and presumed innocent until proven guilty and his family is certainly innocent. All of this is absolutely horrific.”

“This is a woman who has three children. Her husband is medically disabled and she relies on that,” Cynthia Hughes of the Patriot Freedom Project told The Epoch Times.

“Her husband is in jail. The government refuses to let him have a bond. He can’t be home preparing for his trial with his wife. He can’t meet with his own attorney and this is all she has to keep her family in that house. What is she supposed to do now? Some people will say she needs to run out and get a job but it’s just not that simple. I think the government is doing everything it can to a Trump supporter that is going to create the most hardship … and here it is. Here’s the harm. They don’t care about the collateral damage and the collateral damage in this are women and children. It’s truly disgusting. This government should be ashamed of themselves. I can tell you this, we will make sure the Patriot Freedom Project helps the Harrelson family as much as it can,” Hughes proclaimed.

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