Did Verizon Hire Blackwater/Xe for Strike Security? Part 2

As some of you may know, I've been researching  Mr. Santones claim that Verizon hired Blackwater/Xe, and in a previous post gave both Verizon and CWAs denial as evidence against this claim. This morning I recived an email this morning from John Proctor, a spokesman for Gibraltar Associates. Gibraltar Associates is Blackwater/Xe's P.R. firm. I've posted the email below.

Good morning Jeff,

Thank you for reaching out.

Xe has no contract or agreement, nor is the company, or any of its affiliates, doing any work for, or on behalf of Verizon. Further, Xe has not had any contact with Verizon on this or any other matters. The Examiner and Daily Kos stories published this week suggesting otherwise were erroneous. Both have since been retracted.

Let me know if you need any further clarification.

Best regards,

John

That's three for three. All involved, Blackwater/Xe, Verizon, and C.W.A, have now all denied Mr. Tom Santones claims.

And to put the final nail in the coffin of Mr. Santones lie, the C.W.A. has come to an agreement with Verizon, and the striking workers will return to work Tuesday. 

Mr. Santone should be ashamed of himself for spreading such a lie and presenting it as fact, and I hope no one ever using anything he post as any sort of a source again. 

Did Verizon Hire Blackwater/Xe for Strike Security?

     Last night [August 17, 2011] Daily Kos contributor 'santone' posted a story that Verizon had hired Blackwater/Xe to run their security during the strike. The Verizon Media Relations Executive Director, Bob Varettoni, denied the claim when we contacted him for a statement. He would give no other information.


     We also spoke with a spokes person at Communications Workers of America in Washington D.C (CWA) who told us that CWA did not have any information on Verizon hiring Blackwater/Xe and did not and would not give any such information to 'santone'. 


     This is a blatant falsehood on the part of Daily Kos and 'santone'. This type of journalism is why we on the left are brushed aside when we have facts that the people of this nation need to have. This is the lowest most unprofessional kind of reporting/blogging there is. Reporting such lies as facts is not only unprofessional it is dangerous and can cause all manor of problems when real bloggers or journalists try to gather information so that they can report the facts. This 'santone' blogger is the lowest form of writer. He has taken a lie and presented it to the public as fact in perfect Fox News fashion.


     I'm calling on you my readers. I'm calling on you to forward this article to anyone and everyone you know who has or would have read the Daily Kos post. We must inform people that that post is a lie and should be reported as such. We are not Fox News viewers! We actually want the facts!














UPDATE: Since I posted this blog Daily Kos has removed the article in question written by 'santone'. But, if anyone wants a copy for reference, just ask. I saved it to my flash drive.