Kenneth Timmerman, declared candidate

for MD. 8th CD GOP primary

Kenneth Timmerman, noted author, veteran Iran watcher and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, has thrown his hat in the ring for the Republican primary for the re-designed Maryland 8^th CD. The Democrat incumbent, Chris Van Hollen is an assistant to US House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and was a member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the Super Committee, that failed to resolve the dispute over reigning in the towering budget deficit and national debt growth. This is not the first political race in which Timmerman has been involved. In 2000 he ran in the primary  for a US Senate seat in Maryland. We had interviewed Timmerman in the March 2011 NER about his career as a noted investigative journalist, author and human rights advocate –see “Obama likes radical Islamic rule.” A wide ranging interview with Kenneth Timmerman.

In our interview with Timmerman, he told the story of how both he and former US UN Ambassador John Bolton were nominated for their two decade investigation of Iran’s development of nuclear weapons:

 Gordon:  How did both you and former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton get nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize?

Timmerman:  I received a call one day in late 2005 from Per Ahlmark, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, saying that he wanted to nominate us. I was obviously thrilled and honored. I couldn’t believe it at first and so I asked him how the process worked. He explained to me that the only people who have the authority to make official nominations for Nobel Peace Prize are current or former members of the governments of Sweden, Norway or Denmark. So I said “Wow,” that is quite an honor. He wrote a six page letter to the Nobel nominating committee where he detailed my work in exposing Iran’s nuclear weapons work years before the International Atomic Energy Agency became aware of it, and detailing John Bolton’s work to set up the Proliferation Security Initiative. He argued that our efforts were worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize because they helped to prevent the spread of technologies that enabled regimes like Iran to build nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles.

Timmerman has already received the endorsement of Republican House Member of the Maryland delegation, Roscoe Bartlett in the neighboring 6^th CD. Here is what Timmerman noted in his January 18^th announcement made in Frederick, Maryland:

Here’s the statement from Roscoe Bartlett delivered by his wife, Ellen Bartlett, at my announcement in Frederick, MD.

“Like me Ken Timmerman is not a career politician and I would welcome a chance to serve in Congress with Ken. He will bring to Congress a life time of experience in foreign affairs and investigative reporting which would serve Congress well in its oversight role over the executive branch of government. As the past President of the Maryland Taxpayers Association, Ken Timmerman has the heart for the taxpayers and understands that the true wealth of the nation comes from the citizens not the government.”

• Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (MD-06), Jan. 18, 2012.

Timmerman informed me that when approached about signing the No Tax pledge authored by controversial Republican lobbyist Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, he refused. Not because of the economic issue, rather it was Norquist’s role in facilitating infiltration of Muslim Brotherhood representatives at the highest levels of our national government and alliance with groups like the ACLU. Timmerman is a good friend of Israel with wide-ranging experience and contacts at the highest levels there. His assessment of  the Palestinian and fundamentalist Islamic causes was gained the hard way, when he was kidnapped and held briefly as a prisoner in Beirut. He has been a valued friend of the ex-pat Iranianian communities in the West and here in the US fighting for regime change in Tehran and implementation of tougher sanctions against the Islamic regime's  nuclear program.

He will be off to California next weekend holding a series of parlor meetings seeking funding for his Maryland primary run in early April. To keep up with Timmerman's cmapaign schedule check out his website:  Timmermanforcongress.com

Timmerman believes he has a decent chance to win the April 3^rd GOP primary in the  Maryland 8^th CD and go on to contest the redesigned district against incumbent Van Hollen, ranking member of the House Budget Committee. Here is his rationale:

Why Ken Timmerman can beat Rep. Chris Van Hollen

District 8 has been dramatically redrawn to accommodate the desires of Democrat Party bosses to defeat Roscoe Bartlett in the neighboring 6^th district.

Until now, District 8 has been 3-1 Democrat, and included the some of the most reliable Democrat precincts in the State, outside of Baltimore City. All district 8 precincts were in the densely populated, liberal Washington, DC suburbs.

But this year all has changed. Around 100,000 Democrats have been lopped off and thrown into the 6^th district and replaced with Republicans in rural Carroll and Frederick County. For the first time ever, Van Hollen will have to confront heavily Republican, conservative, rural Maryland, which until now he has considered “fly-over” country.

In his campaign, Ken will focus hard on the economy and the huge expansion of federal government power we have seen under Obama. He will promote an opportunity agenda of creating jobs through economic growth, as well as the need for a strong national defense in the face of resolute enemies and future competitors.

Ken is a well-known investigative reporter and author. He has lived overseas for 18 years, covered many wars, and was co-nominated for the Nobel Peace prize with John Bolton in 2006 by the former deputy premier of Sweden. He was also the President of the Maryland Taxpayers Association from 2000-2002. A resident of Kensington, he and his wife Christina have five children and 1 grandchild.

His top priority if elected will be to Repeal Obamacare; then to rein in federal regulatory agencies such as the EPA and the NLRB.

During his campaign, Ken will use his skills as an investigative reporter and communicator to drive a wedge between Chris Van Hollen and voters who are increasingly worried about the economy and unsure about the performance of their Congressman, who sat on the “Super-Committee” and failed to offer any credible solution to the nation’s debt and spending crisis.

Ken is an authentic expert on national defense and intelligence issues who has testified before Congress on Russian missile sales, Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and other issues. He is currently a guest lecturer (on Iran) at the Joint Counter-Intelligence Training Academy in Quantico, Va. He is also the president of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran (www.iran.org), and has worked with pro-democracy groups in Iran for two decades. He has appeared on hundreds of TV and thousands of talk radio shows.

He intends to challenge his opponent to a series of town hall debates in rural Maryland, something Van Hollen has never done before.

For the past seven years, Ken has been the lead investigator for families of 9/11 victims in a civil lawsuit against Iran. Based on Ken’s evidence, a federal district judge ruled just before Christmas that Iran “shared responsibility” for the 9/11 terrorist attacks with al Qaeda, and had provided “direct, material support” for the attacks.

We wish our colleague well on this first step in ultimately contesting Democrat incumbent Chris Van Hollen in the Maryland 8^th CD.  We will keep you apprised of Timmerman’s progress. Should he win the GOP primary and goes on to do battle with Van Hollen in town hall debates over bedrock fiscal and national security issues, Timmerman’s skills as an investigative journalist and public speaker should make him a formidable candidate. His addition to the Maryland Congressional delegation would cap a lifetime of valued achievements in both domestic and foreign affairs. Stay tuned for further developments.