Sunday, May 21, 2017
It’s ironic that a Democratic congressman and a Democratic county prosecutor are holding the key to Republican President Donald J. Trump getting some positive press – for a change. The only thing Trump must do is use the authority of his office for a good cause.
The embattled president is well aware of the daily negative headlines stemming from the various investigations into Russia’s campaign to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. He also knows that his abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey has triggered comparisons to the Watergate scandal that resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon, who was facing impeachment by Congress.
Comey had been leading the FBI’s investigation and was looking into whether any of Trump’s campaign operatives conspired with the Russians when the president canned him.
The daily drip, drip, drip of bad news is getting to Trump, as evidenced by his lashing out at the press and other objective observers.
Therefore, he should grab the lifeline tossed to him by Mahoning Valley Congressman Tim Ryan and Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins.
Ryan and Watkins, two leading Democratic officeholders in the region, want President Trump to pressure Brazil to send Claudia Hoerig back to Trumbull County to stand trial for the murder of her husband, Air Force Maj. Karl Hoerig.
On the lam
Claudia Hoerig, a native of Brazil who became an American citizen after she married Karl Hoerig, fled their Newton Falls home 10 years ago and has been on the lam ever since. She has enjoyed the protection of the Brazilian government, but finally in late March the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil voted 4-1 to send her back to the United States. However, the justices insisted that the accused killer not receive the death penalty or life in prison. Those sentences are prohibited in the South American nation.
Earlier this month, Congressman Ryan wrote a letter to President Trump urging him to intervene.
“I would very much appreciate every effort that you can make to bring justice to bear in this case,” Ryan wrote. “I would also appreciate the assistance of the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Justice Department in keeping my office and Karl Hoerig’s family up to date on any developments. I am happy to discuss this issue with you or your staff at any time.”
While it is not a death-penalty case, a grand jury indicted Claudia Hoerig on a charge of aggravated murder with a gun specification. The law does provide a life sentence if she is found guilty.
She is accused of shooting her husband in their Newton Falls home and then fleeing to Brazil before police discovered the body. The shooting occurred March 12, 2007.
Maj. Karl Hoerig was a highly decorated pilot with the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He was assigned to the 910th Tactical Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna Township, where he flew C-130H planes.
His body was found March 15, 2007, after colleagues at the Air Reserve base asked police to check on him when he failed to show up for training.
He was 43 when he died.
Trumbull County Prosecutor Watkins has been unrelenting in his pursuit of justice and met last month with officials of the U.S. Justice and State departments to discuss Claudia Hoerig’s extradition from Brazil.
Watkins also spoke to an official who works for Brazil’s attorney general about the case.
“Diplomacy must be given a chance to work in this matter, especially after the effort by American prosecutors, diplomats and elected officials serving during the Bush, Obama and present Trump administrations,” Watkins told The Vindicator earlier this month.
The conciliatory tone struck by the Trumbull County prosecutor is in sharp contrast to previous comments he made when his repeated appeals to Washington for assistance were largely ignored.
Indeed, The Vindicator has been a leading voice in demanding Claudia Hoerig’s extradition, and has editorially criticized the administrations of former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama for not giving the case the attention it deserved.
The fact that Maj. Hoerig served his country with distinction here and in the Middle East has made his brutal murder all the more compelling.
President Trump, who presented himself during the campaign as the greatest friend the military would have in the White House, is seeking a $54 billion increase in funding for the Pentagon in the budget he sent to Congress.
Given that, Trump should have no qualms about calling Brazilian President Michel Temer and urging him to facilitate Claudia Hoerig’s return to Trumbull County.
There’s no reason for this case to languish in South America. A decade has passed and it’s time the alleged killer is returned to Trumbull County to stand trial.
Trump must know that the support he received in the predominantly Democratic Mahoning Valley was largely due to his willingness to take on the political establishment.
Trump carried Trumbull County and received a sizable vote in Mahoning County.
The murder of Karl Hoerig is a test of the president’s commitment to put America’s interest ahead of every other country’s. And, it is the distraction the Trump White House needs from the drip, drip, drip of the various investigations into Russia’s interference in last year’s presidential election.
If he does intervene and Claudia Hoerig is returned to Trumbull County, Trump will be hailed as “The Great Humanitarian” – at least by this writer.