McCain Adviser Arrested Once For Gun Violation On Capitol Hill

John McCain's chief foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, is known for his aggressive posture on foreign policy, having served as an architect of the Iraq war and, more recently, a fierce supporter of and lobbyist for the former Soviet nation of Georgia.

But apparently he takes the notion of cowboy diplomacy to a new level. A Democratic source tipped off the Huffington Post that back in 1997, when he was serving as a top adviser to Sen. Trent Lott, Scheunemann was arrested by Capitol Hill police for a gun violation.

According to a Washington Times article from February 1997, Scheunemann was spotted by a police unit with a shotgun case through the window of his car. They stopped him to ask if the case contained an actual gun. It did. Moreover, Scheunemann had several rounds of ammunition as well.

"The congressional aide was arrested, taken to police headquarters, fingerprinted and charged with possession of an unregistered firearm (an unloaded 12-gauge) and unregistered ammunition (two rounds)," the story went. Scheunemann, who would spend several hours in jail before his release, would eventually plead guilty to a lesser charge and pay a $500 fine.

The McCain campaign declined to comment.

The episode should have scant political relevance today considering that, among other things, Scheunemann went on to lobby for the NRA, is of a political party that stridently defends gun ownership, and that other Senate hands -- notably, an aide to Democrat Jim Webb -- have also been arrested for illegally bringing firearms onto congressional property.

Indeed, as TPM's Josh Marshall has been hammering home for weeks, of far greater controversy is the role Scheunemann played in "lobbying, plotting and organizing campaigns of deception that led America to war in Iraq."

Nevertheless, for a guy who will have a huge hand in crafting foreign policy should McCain win the White House, a past firearm arrest, no matter how long ago, counts as news.

Comments

[sueno]

That's what the GOP is made of-
guns and stupidity.

[djkrlsn]

Don't forget Senator Kennedy's bodyguards got arrested with unregistered submachineguns in the capital--and I would not be surprised if DC's registration laws end up being unconstitutional.

[8yearsoffear]

Wake up people!!! If Mc cain wins we will have another 4 years of the same. An once again the same stupid people that were fooled by Bush will be asking themselves why did they fall for the same bull crap again! Dumb is as Dumb does.

[MorgansRifles]

Let's not forget about when Ted Kennedy's bodyguard Charles A. Stein Jr who was arrested in January 1986 for trying to carry two submachine guns, a pistol and 146 rounds of ammo into the Capital Building. Or when Democratic Senator Jim Webb's aid was arrested for being in possesion of his boss' loaded handgun with two magazines.

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54951

Michael

[BlackbirdHighway]

In red states, gun violations are a political asset, not a liability.

[ReelBusy]

More McCain hypocrisy.
I've heard it before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4-PqAXRIRU

Let's have some fun now:
The McCain-Nixon-Bush Tango
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyvJVy_7LYU

[sisteract]

That was fun! Thanks!

[bigfated]

If you're concerned about this particular neo-con idiot because of a gun charge-----you should be absolutely outraged by the fact that he and McSame are getting ready to profit from the situation involving Russia's invasion of Georgia. It was McSame and his gun-toting buddy who CREATED the tumult in that region....­.and are now exacerbating the situation. This could lead to loss of American lives if McSame is in charge. Remember----if we know nothing else about McSame regarding his similarities to Bush....WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE BOTH WARMONGERS! So....had enough war for awhile? OBAMA 08!!!

[djkrlsn]

At least McCain recognized that Putin has not changed much since his KGB days--there is truth in the old rule--keep your friends close and your enemies closer--while the KGB may be better than Al Qaeda--neither one is trustworthy

[cbates]

Hey this guy is ok he is with John . He is one of the guys, you know, a good old boy from outr west.

[jgalvan]

And Prez Bush's VP shot someone in the face and told no one.

[45superman]

How many people were harmed by Mr. Scheunemann's shotgun? Oh--none?

Slow news day, eh?

[slamkitty2]

It is illegal. What do not understand about that? If you have a problem with the law then work to get it changed. It is pathetic how most of you wingnuts have no problem in throwing the law out the window if one of your own breaks it.

[45superman]

Scheunemann is NOT "one of my own" (Jeez--you folks are big on the hostility today, aren't you?), and I won't be voting for his neo-con master. I believe that unjust, evil laws are made to be broken.

Oh, by the way, I seem to remember that DC's draconian gun laws ARE changing (much too little, and much too slowly, but they're changing), as a result of a great deal of hard work by people who don't see what's "liberal" about mandating a government monopoly on force.

[MorgansRifles]

slamkitty2:

Please see my post above about how Ted Kennedy's bodyguard was arrested in January 1986 for trying to bring in two submachineguns into the Capitol. Kennedy went to Ed Meese to get him released.

That was illegal too. Do you think that what Kennedy did was correct? His bodyguard was never prosecuted. Also, what about when Jim Webb's aide was arrested for carrying his boss' loaded handgun and two pistol magazines?

Unless you protested these violations on the Democratic side, you have no business attacking Randy Scheunemann.

Michael

Michael

[Heavenhelpusall]

How many were harmed by his involvement with Iraq and Georgia? I know, you can't count that high.

[45superman]

If you presume that my defense of his Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental, absolute human right of the individual to keep and bear arms means that I agree with the man's foreign policy, you're not only laughably wrong, but woefully irrational.

[djkrlsn]

So Heavenhelpusall--do you think that having Eastern Europe under Soviet hegemeny is a good thing? I think a better counter balance for the U S is a freely elected small r republican Europe free of Russian domination from Scandinavia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland in the north down through the Baltic states, the various 'Stans an Inda than the Cold War arrangement of Mutually Assured Destruction (although I dislike the Politburo and the KGB--they were and are vicious, they never have been suicidal). Iran and Islamic terrorists are perfectly willing to commit suicide if they can take others with them.

[Scarllatti]

I keep wondering what these GOP nut-heads are doing on this blog. Huffpo is nott a blog for Nuts like this fellow, 45-whateve­r-he-calls­-himself. Forgot faux news blog website?

[45superman]

Actually, I'm not really affiliated with the GOP, and there are more than a few elements of the GOP platform that leave me cold. The neo-cons, in particular will get no support for me.

As to "Huffpo is nott [sic] a blog for . . . "--who put you in charge of "who Huffpo is for," and by what authority to you propose to deny me the opportunity to state my views?

[MorgansRifles]

Scarllatti:

Were you upset when Ted Kennedy's bodyguard was arrested for trying to carry submachineguns into the Captol Building in January 1986? Or when Jim Webb's aide was arrested for carrying his boss' loaded handgun into the Capitol?

Michael

[djkrlsn]

Scarlatti-while I liked and still appreciate Jimmy Carter's high moral and ethical standards, it was his political ineptitude that led me to register as a Republican at 18. Your basic attitude is why I am still a Republican (although I will be voting for Rod Wright this fall). If more Dems were like the one I talked to about 2 years ago--I would be more willing to change parties-- (part of that was his political honesty in recognizing that there are people like me who voted for Bush not because I like Bush, but I find his opponent a worse alternative (voting for bad as opposed to voting for very bad). This particular Dem also understood why Gore lost any credibility with me when he had a Chicago mayor named Daley as a spokesman in Florida crying alligator tears about being "robbed" and the "importance of every vote being counted" while blatantly trying to keep active duty military absentee ballots from being counted.

[djkrlsn]

Scarlatti--I became active here to try to counter bloggers like Paul Helmke, Josh Sugarman and Josh Horwitz--and it turns out that what I have been arguing has been in basic agreement with the SCOTUS decision in the Heller case while the usual Helmke/Sugarman/ Schoenke/Horwitz blogs have not been--so proRKBA people like 45super are hardly nutcases.

[sherylsworld]

Wow McBush, care to explain this?????

[partyofone]

More than any presidential candidate I can remember over decades, McCain seems to have surrounded himself with advisors of highly questionable character and enormous conflicts of interest.

[dhfsfc]

Yep, looks like a nut! I mean, with the shifty little eyes and the moustache, something is up!

[Totto]

Another rootin', tootin', shootin' Republican with potency problems.

[desertdweller]

You can't have "potency problems" if you don't have "junk" to begin with...

[djkrlsn]

Snub revolvers and the corresponding pocket size 9mm parabellum, kurz and makarov pistols would not exist if they were substitutes for phallic inadequacies--and by the way I do own a 2.75 inch Security Six (357mag) and Keltec p11 (which does ride well in a pocket).

[tsktsktsk]

Disposing of the evidence for his buddy, Cheney?

[Nyla785]

Boy, McCain sure has a colorful cast of lackeys around him.
'Judgement'