Marine jailed in Mexico receives order to report to USMC superiors

Sgt. Maj. M.E. Sprague (Idiot)

Sgt. Tahmooressi & Mother Jill

             It might be the first order U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi doesn't obey.
The mother of the reservist, who is being held in a Mexican jail after mistakenly crossing the border with registered guns, told FoxNews.com her son just got an "Order to Muster" letter from the Marines telling Tahmooressi to report to the 4th Civil Affairs Group in Hialeah, Fla., on June 14. Although a Marine spokeswoman later told FoxNews.com that the corps is aware of Tahmooressi's current circumstances and does not expect him to report, failure typically can result in "other than honorable discharge" and affect Veterans Administration benefits.

"You are among the elite citizens of our nation who, if needed, are ready to answer the call to defend our freedom.,"- Letter from USMC to Marine jailed in Mexico

"You are among the elite citizens of our nation who, if needed, are ready to answer the call to defend our freedom," reads the May 9 order written by Sgt. Maj. M.E. Sprague, which also reminds the recipient that, "Once a Marine, always a Marine."
Jill Tahmooressi said the letter was the latest painful reminder of her son's plight despite service to his country that includes two tours of duty in Afghanistan resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder. Tahmooressi was arrested March 31, after accidentally driving into Mexico with three legally purchased weapons in his truck.
A Marine Corps spokesman told FoxNews.com reservists on Individual Ready Reserve, as Tahmooressi is, are contractually required to attend the one-day session to have their physical readiness evaluated should they be recalled to active duty. The letter does not represent a call-up to active duty.
Jill Tahmooressi, who has been able to speak to her son by telephone, said she did not know if the Marines sent the letter mistakenly, or did not know of his situation.
"I haven't called the Marines about this," she said.
Maj. Tamarra Jones, a Marine Force Reserves spokeswoman, said the corps is fully aware of Tahmooressi's situation and has been following it closely.
"This is an exceptional circumstance and Sgt. Tahmooressi won't be penalized for not attending this meeting," Jones told FoxNews.com.
Tahmooressi, who joined the military in 2008, was a .50 caliber gunner in the top position of a Humvee, according to his mother. His bravery in combat earned him a battlefield promotion to sergeant.
The fearful mom hopes her son's training and bravery will sustain him through his current ordeal. Tahmooressi attempted an escape from a notorious state-run jail in Tijuana shortly after his arrest. He has since been transferred to a federal penitentiary in Tecate, Mexico. 
His first court hearing is scheduled for May 28, but will likely not result in any decision. The arresting Mexican border officials are slated to make a statement to the judge, who holds Tahmooressi's fate in his hands alone. There are no jury trials in Mexico.
Meanwhile, a petition drive has been launched to spur President Obama's intervention in the case. In order for the White House to automatically look into the case, 100,000 signatures must be gathered by May 31. As of Tuesday, there are about 30,000 signatures attached to the petition.

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In-laws Bill and Hillary Clinton can't swing Pennsylvania House race for Margolies

Bill and Hillary Clinton can fundraise and stump for old friends like few others, but their political touch was not enough Tuesday to help an in-law win back her old House seat. 
Marjorie Margolies, whose son Marc Mezvinsky is married to Clinton daughter Chelsea, lost the Democratic primary for an open House seat in Pennsylvania representing eastern Philadelphia and its more affluent Montgomery County suburb. 
Early returns showed state Rep. Brendan Boyle winning the race, according to The Associated Press, virtually assuring him of becoming the successor to Democratic Rep. Allyson Schwartz. Boyle was the only one of the four candidates in the race from Philadelphia.
Former President Clinton headlined an April fundraiser in Philadelphia for Margolies that reportedly raised roughly $200,000. And the former first lady, who is eyeing a potential 2016 presidential run, appeared at a May 15 fundraiser for her in New York.
The fundraiser was at the New York City home of Lynn Forester de Rothschild with tickets costing $1,000 to $5,000 a person.
Though the families are connected through their children’s July 2010 marriage, the Clinton-Margolies political relationship dates back to 1993. That's when Margolies cast a deciding vote on a Clinton budget that included a tax increase on upper-income Americans, including many in the congresswoman’s then-Republican-leaning 13th congressional district.
Margolies lost in her bid for a second term in the 1994 GOP wave election, which prompted some people to say the Clintons owe her one.
“I want to get one thing out of the way; I would be here if her son was not my son-in-law,” the former president said at the April fundraiser, according to The New York Times.
He also donated the maximum $2,600 and was featured in a video ad for Margolies.
Margolies' son could not directly participate in the campaign because he runs a hedge fund and her daughter-in-law was not allowed to because she is a special correspondent for NBC News.
Margolies, 71, also lost a 1998 bid for lieutenant governor and dropped out of her 2000 Senate campaign.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

VA health care inquiry expands as House prepares bill to enhance secretary's authority

The Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General's Office said late Tuesday that 26 facilities were being investigated nationwide over allegations of manipulated waiting times and other issues. 
The disclosure comes as the House of Representatives prepares to vote Wednesday on a bill that would give VA Secretary Eric Shinseki greater authority to fire or demote senior executives. 
Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, sponsored the measure, saying VA officials who have presided over mismanagement or negligence are more likely to receive bonuses or glowing performance reviews than any sort of punishment.
The VA's "widespread and systemic lack of accountability is exacerbating all of its most pressing problems," including revelations that the department maintained secret waiting lists to cover up long delays in patient appointments and a mounting toll of preventable deaths of veterans, Miller said.
Miller accused the VA of a "well-documented reluctance to ensure its leaders are held accountable for mistakes" and said Congress has an obligation to "give the VA secretary the authority he needs to fix things. That's what my bill would do."
Presidential spokesman Jay Carney said the White House shares the goals of the House bill — to ensure accountability at the VA — but was concerned about some of the details.
Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, told The Associated Press on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation this week to ensure that internal probes by the VA's Office of Medical Inspector are released to Congress and the public "so the full scope of the VA's dysfunction cannot be disguised."
Moran noted that a VA nurse in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was put on leave this month for allegedly telling employees to falsify appointment records. The action came after an email about possible wait-list manipulation at the Cheyenne hospital was leaked to the media.
But Moran said the Cheyenne center was already the subject of a December 2013 report by Office of the Medical Inspector. That report apparently substantiated claims of improper scheduling practices, but it's unclear if action taken at the Cheyenne center was based on the medical inspector's findings, Moran said.
"Because OMI reports are not available to the public and have not been previously released to Congress, it is impossible to know whether the VA has taken action to implement the OMI's recommendations for improvement in each case," Moran said.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors is scheduled to travel to Phoenix Thursday to meet with staff at the VA office where the crisis began after allegations of delayed care that may have led to patient deaths and a cover-up by top administrators.
A former clinic director said that as many as 40 veterans may have died while awaiting treatment at the Phoenix hospital and that staff, at the instruction of administrators, kept a secret list of patients waiting for appointments to hide delays in care.
Investigators probing the claims say they have so far not linked any patient deaths in Phoenix to delayed care.
The current director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System, Sharon Helman, has been placed on leave indefinitely while the VA's inspector general investigates the claims raised by several former VA employees.
Shinseki and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met with the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday to discuss how the Veterans Affairs and Defense departments can improve interactions between their health records systems. The two Cabinet members said in a joint statement that the meeting was productive and said both men share the same goal: to improve health outcomes of active-duty military, veterans and beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, two Republican senators introduced legislation to prohibit payment of bonuses to employees at the Veterans Health Administration through next year. Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Deb Fischer of Nebraska said the VA should focus its spending on fixing problems at the agency, "not rewarding employees entrenched in a failing bureaucracy." Burr is the senior Republican on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and Fischer is on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The House passed a bill in February that would eliminate performance bonuses for the department's senior executive staff through 2018.
Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, also called on Obama to back off plans to nominate Jeffrey Murawsky to replace the VA's undersecretary for health care, Robert Petzel, who has stepped down. Murawsky, a career VA administrator, directly supervised Helman from 2010 to 2012.
The White House has said Obama remains confident in Shinseki's leadership and is standing behind Murawsky's nomination.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.