Lee Whitnum

Lee Whitnum
Personal details
Born (1960-06-23) June 23, 1960
Alma mater
Occupation Software engineer, writer, politician

Lee Whitnum (born June 23, 1960) is an American writer and politician. She is an outspoken critic of Israel and gained notoriety on that issue in the 2010 Connecticut U.S. Senate race. She also takes a hard stand against illegal and legal "white collar" immigration as a way to curtail unemployment. She cites abuses of the H1-B and L1 immigration loopholes as detrimental to the United States by contributing to unemployment.[1]

Early life, education and family

Whitnum received a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland University College and attended Harvard University to graduate with a master's degree (EdM.) in Administration, Planning and Social Policy.[2]

For twelve years Whitnum worked as a contract software engineer for the United States Army concentrating in the area of Field Artillery.

Political campaigns

2008

In 2008, Whitnum ran for Congress in the Fourth Congressional District of Connecticut.[3] Whitnum gathered enough signatures to force a primary with Congressman Jim Himes. Himes easily defeated Whitnum with about 90% of the vote.[4]

2010

Whitnum was a candidate for the 2010 Democratic nomination for the United States Senate from the State of Connecticut for the seat previously held by Christopher Dodd. Whitnum advocated lobby reform with a critical focus on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) stating, "AIPAC had a strong hand in pushing for the Iraq War, and AIPAC has fully infiltrated our election process, Whitnum said in a statement to the Hartford Courant. "AIPAC is the reason why senators and members of Congress consistently vote $2 billion a year to Israel -- a country that is not impoverished. We need that money here at home for our own crumbling infrastructure."[5]

The nomination was won by Richard Blumenthal. Whitnum repeatedly called for Blumenthal's resignation, blaming him for the AIG Financial Products meltdown [6] for failing to reform the hedge fund industry in Connecticut as he had promised.[7] "The largest financial meltdown in United States history happened right here in Wilton, Connecticut. A mistake with such catastrophic consequence to our country cannot go rewarded." Whitnum stated in a press release that was widely reported.[8]

2012

Whitnum filed her candidacy for the United States senate in July 2011 for the 2012 Connecticut U.S. senate race. As a candidate she has written four bills, one of which is the Prosecute Settler Violence Bill, which would permit the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute American citizens who commit acts of violence in the "forceful taking of the homes, farms, and land of the ... Palestinians."[9] U.S. Representative Chris Murphy won the Democratic nomination.

2014

Whitnum planned to challenge incumbent Dan Malloy in the Democratic primary for Governor of Connecticut in 2014, but withdrew before the primary.

2018

Whitnum has declared that she will be a candidate in the 2018 Connecticut gubernatorial election.[10]

Activism

In November 2011 Whitnum filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Greenwich and Peter Tesei, First Selectman, for allowing a Bar Mitzvah at the Town Hall, citing the First Amendment Establishment Clause.[11] She also gave a speech entitled the "Double Standard", contrasting Tesei's actions at the local level with U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.[9]

Whitnum sent out a press release in February 2012 responding to Joe Lieberman's Enemy Expatriation Act (HR-3166), stating that if anyone were a "enemy combatant" it would be Joe Lieberman for his role in the 2002 Wehrkunde Conference. Whitnum states that Lieberman and Paul Wolfowitz pleaded with the European community for war in Iraq. Whitnum, in her press release, calls Lieberman's action as "renegade" and "treason."[12]

Personal life

After John Kerry's nomination in 2004 Whitnum posted a webpage scrapbook of mementos of her time at Harvard and on Kerry's campaign 14 years prior. Whitnum wrote that on HedgeFundMistress.com that the webpage went viral receiving more than 600,000 hits due to Republican bloggers' attention. Whitnum said "who knew a few G-rated mementos posted in the middle of the night for friends would explode the way it did - I do apologize."[13] Whitnum told the Washington Post she was distressed by the attention as it detracted from Kerry's campaign.[14]

Published books

Whitnum's novels are published under the pen name Lee Roystone.

References

  1. ↑ "Lee Whitnum on the issues". Leewhitnum.com. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  2. ↑ http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/Senate/Connecticut/Lee_Whitnum/
  3. ↑ http://www.sots.ct.gov/sots/lib/sots/releases/2008/8.4.08_time_to_register_for_primaries.pdf
  4. ↑ Newman, Jared (June 20, 2008). "Whitnum forces Democratic primary in Congress race". The Hour. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  5. ↑ Keating, Christopher (June 15, 2010). "Dannel Malloy Facing Slander Lawsuit". Hartford Courant. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  6. ↑ Norris, Floyd. The New York Times http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/american_international_group/index.html?inline=nyt-org. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "Hedge hunting season in Connecticut". CNN. October 1, 2006.
  8. ↑ Altimari, Daniela (April 1, 2010). "Lee Whitnum: Blumenthal should resign". Capitol Watch. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  9. 1 2 "Prosecute Zionist Violence Bill", Leewhitnum.com. Accessed 7 February 2012.
  10. ↑ Vigdor, Neil (2014-03-17). "Greenwich woman found guilty of infraction". GreenwichTime. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  11. ↑ Vigdor, Neil (September 14, 2011). "Town Democrat files lawsuit over bar mitzvah at Town Hall". GreenwichTime. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Whitnum press release". Citizens for Lee Whitnum. February 12, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Blogger myths". Archived from the original on 2012-04-29.
  14. ↑ Leiby, Richard (August 22, 2004). "John Kerry: The One Who Got Away". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2012-11-11.
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