SAN DIEGO — Former U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter Sr. fired back Friday at National Public Radio (NPR) over a podcast detailing his son's involvement in a deadly, friendly-fire incident during the Iraq war.
Duncan Hunter Jr. was deployed in Fallujah at a control center in April 2004 when a United States artillery attack killed two U.S. Marines and an Iraqi translator, according to NPR.
Hunter Sr. handed out results of a lie detector exam Friday during the news conference, in an attempt to convince the public that he never covered up the friendly-fire incident involving his son.
“I put out my right arm, got hooked up to a lie detector test. I passed it. National Public Radio didn't pass theirs,” Hunter Sr. said.
“Have you ever interfered in any way with any Marine investigation or disposition of any friendly fire incident? No. Results answered truthfully,” he continued.
The 75-year-old Alpine resident was responding to accusations made in an 8-hour NPR podcast called Taking Cover.
NPR reported Duncan Hunter Jr. – also a former U.S. Congressman -- was inside the control center that coordinated the deadly artillery attack that mistakenly killed two Marines and wounded several others in a schoolyard in Fallujah.
The podcast implied Duncan Hunter Sr. helped cover up the incident because his son was involved, and revealed that some families of the victims were never told the incident was the result of friendly fire.
“National Public Radio gave the impression that somehow I jumped on a plane, and flew over, and leaned on the Marine leadership to cover up an investigation. That's why I took the polygraph,” said Hunter Sr.
The elder Hunter said he did travel to Iraq after the friendly-fire incident in 2004 and routinely met with officers regarding other matters.
Duncan Hunter Jr. was never recommended for discipline in a Marine Corps investigation obtained by NPR.
General James Mattis later overturned recommendations that other U.S. Marines be disciplined in the incident.
“I did not go and engage in any cover-up or contact any Marine leader with respect to the investigation, or the disposition of the investigation,” Hunter Sr. said.
Hunter Sr. also said he never knew about the friendly fire incident until recently.
“That was 20 years ago. I don't remember being briefed on that,” he said.
Duncan Hunter Jr. was not present at his father’s news conference. The father said his son did not want to get in a situation where it might appear that he was criticizing other Marines.
WATCH RELATED: NPR: Duncan Hunter Jr involved in friendly-fire deaths in Iraq (April 2023).