Accusations fly in campaign for Obama's old senate seat

By Robert Farley
Published on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 7:42 p.m.

Related rulings:

"At his father's bank, Alexi made tens of millions in risky loans to convicted mobsters. Then, the bank collapsed."

Mark Kirk, Wednesday, June 30th, 2010.

Ruling: Half-True | Details

"He (Kirk) did violate Pentagon rules, twice actually, for improperly mingling politics with his military service."

Alexi Giannoulias, Thursday, July 8th, 2010.

Ruling: True | Details

"Alexi Giannoulias' top aide was a longtime BP lobbyist."

Mark Kirk, Thursday, July 8th, 2010.

Ruling: Mostly False | Details

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U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., a candidate for the U.S. Senate, in Ceiba, Puerto Rico as a member of the Navy Reserve. Kirk, a 21-year veteran in the Navy Reserve, has been accused of repeatedly exaggerating his military record.

A race for President Barack Obama's old Illinois U.S. Senate seat features enough negative attacks to keep an army of fact-checkers busy.

We decided to dip a toe into the turgid water and sort through some of the most high-profile attacks.

• From a Giannoulias campaign ad, we checked the latest in a string of claims about Kirk's military record, that "He (Kirk) did violate Pentagon rules, twice actually, for improperly mingling politics with his military service."

• From a Kirk campaign ad, we looked into the claim that "At his father's bank, Alexi made tens of millions in risky loans to convicted mobsters. Then, the bank collapsed."

• And finally, we checked another Kirk campaign ad that alleged, "Alexi Giannoulias' top aide was a longtime BP lobbyist."