Hannity & Colmes gave Stolen Honor film producer Carlton Sherwood a forum for more smears of Kerry

One day before the opening of his film (subscription only), Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal, Carlton Sherwood appeared on the September 8 edition of FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes and smeared Senator John Kerry, falsely accusing the senator of “label[ing] all of them [POWs] war criminals.”

Sherwood (author of the pro-Unification Church book Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon) appeared on Hannity & Colmes alongside Paul Galanti, a member of the anti-Kerry group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who was interviewed for Stolen Honor. During their FOX News Channel appearance, Galanti joined Sherwood in attacking Kerry by accusing him of treason for "[a]iding and abetting the enemy in a time of war" -- yet no Kerry supporters were brought forth to make the debate “fair and balanced.” Moreover, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, in his 1971 Senate testimony, Kerry was simply relating the personal experiences of other Vietnam veterans who had come forward and told their stories; Kerry focused blame on the leaders at that time, not the soldiers, for the atrocities they claimed to have committed or witnessed.

Sherwood's book Inquisition, which defends Reverend Moon and his controversial religion against what Sherwood deems religious persecution, was published in 1991 by Regnery Publishing. In 2004, Regnery published such books as John E. O'Neill's and Jerome R. Corsi's Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry; Robert Patterson's Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undermine Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our National Security; Michelle Malkin's In Defense of Internment: The Case for “Racial Profiling” in World War II and the War on Terror; and David Horowitz's forthcoming Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left.

As blogger Kevin K. noted on Catch.com, PBS's FRONTLINE: The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon (aired on January 21, 1992) indicates that Sherwood's connections to Moon go far beyond those of a neutral observer who witnessed religious persecution. Sherwood has written book reviews for the Moon-owned Washington Times as recently as February 2004 FRONTLINE noted that Regnery president "Alfred Regnery was told by Carlton Sherwood that the Moon Organization would purchase 100,000 copies of Inquisition -- at least according to former Washington Times editor James Whelan, another Regnery-Gateway author. But Alfred Regnery denies it." FRONTLINE then documented evidence suggesting that Moon played a significant role in shaping Sherwood's book:

One week after talking to Regnery, FRONTLINE obtained a copy of a letter addressed to Sun Myung Moon. The letter was written by James Gavin, a Moon aide. Gavin tells Moon he reviewed the “overall tone and factual contents” of Inquisition before publication and suggested revisions. Gavin adds that the author “Mr. Sherwood has assured me that all this will be done when the manuscript is sent to the publisher.” Gavin concludes by telling Moon, “When all of our suggestions have been incorporated, the book will be complete and in my opinion will make a significant impact. ... In addition to silencing our critics now, the book should be invaluable in persuading others of our legitimacy for many years to come.”

Although he refused an on-camera interview, Carlton Sherwood told FRONTLINE that the Unification Movement exerted no editorial control over his book.

Sherwood is president of Red, White and Blue Productions, which produced Stolen Honor; he is also executive vice president of the wvc3 group, a firm focusing on homeland security and counterterrorism. In 1980, while working for the Gannett News Service, Sherwood won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting on “financial contributions to the Pauline Fathers, a Catholic religious order based in Pennsylvania” (Associated Press, 4/14/80). There is also a media award named in his honor.

As Catchegory documented, Pennsylvania Insider editor Al Neri noted in the June 2003 Insider that Sherwood is “a former [Secretary of Homeland Security and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom] Ridge confidant and administration official” who was “tapped to create and manage a new Fed website -- www.firstresponder.gov -- a key Bush Administration public outreach program directed to the more than 8 million police, fire, EMS and emergency management personnel nationwide.” (Firstresponder.gov is not yet operational. According to the American Public Works Association, it was supposed to be live by March 2004, but it has apparently been delayed.) In February 2002, Ridge heaped praise on Sherwood at a National Press Club luncheon.