Lawmakers demand answers on veterans’ Camp Lejeune claims

WASHINGTON — Sens. Ted Budd, Thom Tillis and seven other lawmakers demanded answers Wednesday on why their constituents continue to die from Camp Lejeune’s toxic waters while the Department of Justice and the Navy refuses to settle their claims.

On Wednesday, the lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro and Attorney General Merrick Garland voicing concerns about delays in settling claims and lawsuits filed by veterans, military personnel and their families affected by toxic waters on the base in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

“It is imperative that the Navy Judge Advocate General and Department of Justice act expeditiously to ensure these individuals receive the justice they deserve without undue delay,” the lawmakers wrote.

Between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 1987, toxic chemicals seeped through the ground into two of eight water treatment plants on the Marine Corps base from underground fuel storage tanks, an off-base dry cleaning facility, industrial area spills and waste disposal sites. The chemicals included trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, benzene and vinyl chloride and are known to cause miscarriages, birth defects, cancers and childhood leukemia.

Last August, Congress passed into law the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, which allowed an estimated more than 1 million people exposed to the water to file a claim with the Navy. If the Navy didn’t respond within six months, the legislation then gave those people the right to sue.

—McClatchy Washington Bureau

Rudy Giuliani sued in NYC for falsely accusing store worker of assault

NEW YORK — A Staten Island ShopRite employee has sued former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani over an incident that landed the store worker in jail overnight on charges that were quickly dismissed.

It’s the second time this week Giuliani has been sued in New York City.

Daniel Gill’s Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit demands $2 million from Giuliani for colluding with the NYPD to throw him behind bars on a false charge of assaulting an elderly person after he patted him on the back and called him a “scumbag.”

Widely seen CCTV footage of the incident, which happened as Giuliani was campaigning for his son Andrew’s gubernatorial run in Charleston on Staten Island, painted a different picture than what Giuliani described as being “hit on the back, as if a boulder hit me.”

Gill is seen on CCTV approaching Giuliani from behind and patting him on the back with an open palm before saying something and walking off.

Giuliani said Gill had said, “What’s up, scumbag?” after the pat before criticizing his anti-abortion stance.

—New York Daily News