Judge Orders U.S. to Find Bush Records

Thu Sep 16, 4:46 PM ET

By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A federal judge has ordered the Pentagon (news - web sites) to find and make public by next week any unreleased files about President Bush (news - web sites)'s Vietnam-era Air National Guard service to resolve a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by The Associated Press.

U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr. handed down the order late Wednesday in New York. The AP lawsuit already has led to the disclosure of previously unreleased flight logs from Bush's days piloting F-102A fighters and other jets.

Pentagon officials told Baer they plan to have their search complete by Monday. Baer ordered the Pentagon to hand over the records to the AP by Sept. 24 and provide a written statement by Sept. 29 detailing the search for more records.

"We're hopeful the Department of Defense (news - web sites) will provide a full accounting of the steps it has taken, as the judge ordered, so the public can have some assurance that there are no documents being withheld," said AP lawyer David Schulz.

White House officials have said Bush ordered the Pentagon earlier this year to conduct a thorough search for the president's records, and officials allowed reporters to review everything that was gathered back in February.

Through a series of requests under the federal open records law and a subsequent suit, the AP uncovered the flight logs, which were not part of the records the White House released earlier this year.

Both Bush's and John Kerry (news - web sites)'s service records in Vietnam have become a major issue in the presidential race. New records that have surfaced in recent weeks have raised more questions.

Bush's critics say Bush got preferential treatment as the son of a congressman and U.N. ambassador. Critics also question why Bush skipped a required medical examination in 1972 and failed to show up for drills during a six-month period that year.

Bush has repeatedly said he fulfilled all of his Air National Guard obligations.

The future president joined the Texas Air National Guard in 1968, when he graduated from Yale. He spent more than a year on active duty learning how to fly and then mostly flew in the one-seat F-102A fighters until April 1972.

The pilot logs show a shift to flights in two-seat trainer jets in March 1972, shortly before Bush quit flying. Former Air National Guard officials say that could have been because F-102A jets were not available for Bush to fly or because of other reasons, such as concerns about Bush's flight performance.

Bush skipped his required yearly medical exam in 1972 in the months after he stopped flying in April. Bush has said he moved to Alabama to work on the unsuccessful Senate campaign of a family friend.

Bush never showed up for Guard service between late April and mid-October 1972. He won approval to train with an Alabama Air National Guard unit during September, October and November 1972, but more than a dozen members of the unit at that time say they never saw him there.

The only direct record of Bush appearing at the Alabama unit's base is a January 1973 dental exam performed at that base. Bush's Texas commanders wrote in May 1973 they never saw him between May 1972 and April 1973, a time when his pay records show he trained on 14 days.

Although military regulations allowed commanders to order two years of active duty for guardsmen who missed more than three straight months of drills, that never happened to Bush. Commanders had leeway at the time to allow guardsmen to make up for missed drills.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&u=/ap/20040916/ap_on_el_pr/bush_guard_records_1&printer=1

Why not Kerry's Records then also?  

Quoted: Why not Kerry's Records then also?

Good point.

The Pentagon was ordered to release any more Bush documents IF there are any more… There may be no more.

The Navy said to today the MAJORITY of Kerry’s records HAVE NOT been released because KERRY WOULD NOT authorize their release.

Notice the major press outlets have not mentioned this at all.

Quoted: Why not Kerry's Records then also?

Liberal Activist Judge, duh.


Actually...I'm WAY more angry than that emoticon can convey....

Kerry won't release his records because there must be something REALLY damning in there.

Quoted: Kerry won't release his records because there must be something REALLY damning in there.

Then will someone please explain to me how W's can be ORDERED to be opened, but Kerry can keep his SEALED?

WTF IS GOING ON IN THIS GD COUNTRY!

Quoted: Quoted: Kerry won't release his records because there must be something REALLY damning in there. Then will someone please explain to me how W's can be ORDERED to be opened, but Kerry can keep his SEALED? WTF IS GOING ON IN THIS GD COUNTRY!

Well that is the big lie…

Bush order his own records released years ago it is not his fault if the Pentagon keeps find documents. The judges order is an obvious political stunt.

Kerry will not release his records… but the press don’t care.

WTF is going on... it is just the usual double standard at work.

Bush is being work hardened by the constant attacks.  By election day, he could be on video kicking a weiner dog for the hell of it, and nobody would pay attention.  Michael Moore, the Celebs, Fake memos, etc...  Wolf has been cried long ago, and even valid critiques will be lost in the sea of propaganda.

Note that I don't like W (I do indeed think he's a boob), but it's critical that he win the election.

Kerry says he is a war hero,BUT he hasnt released his military records. Any person that thinks logically, would see something is wrong here. I forgot Democrates think emotionally and to hell with logic.

Quoted: Quoted: Kerry won't release his records because there must be something REALLY damning in there. Then will someone please explain to me how W's can be ORDERED to be opened, but Kerry can keep his SEALED? WTF IS GOING ON IN THIS GD COUNTRY!

Probably no one has yet filed a FOIA request to force the disclosure of Kerry's records?


Hmmm....   fire mission?

Baer is a Clinton appointee...and somewhat of a renegade, not particularly well-liked (or even respected) by either side.

---------------------------------------------
U.S. District Court Judge Harold Baer

In 1996, an election year, U.S. District Court Judge Harold Baer of New York came under fire from both conservative Republicans in Congress and Democratic President Bill Clinton for a ruling he made in a drug case. Police observed four men loading duffel bags into a car trunk. The men fled once they saw the police, and when the police searched the car without a warrant, they found 80 pounds of cocaine. Baer granted a defense motion to suppress the cocaine as evidence on the grounds that the police did not have reasonable suspicion to search the car. Fleeing the police, he ruled, was not necessarily suspicious behavior in a neighborhood where many residents believe that police have a reputation for violence and corruption.

Infuriated members of Congress called for Baer to resign, and some, including then-Senator Bob Dole and Representative Tom DeLay, called for his impeachment. President Clinton, who had appointed Baer but who was in the midst of a re-election campaign, said he might ask for his resignation if the judge did not reverse his ruling. Baer later granted the government’s motion to reconsider his ruling, and ultimately reversed his original decision, but said that he did so based on evidence unavailable to him earlier. Baer then was criticized for bowing to political pressure.

Source: http://www.constitutionproject.org/ci/newsroom_guide/38.htm

Quoted: Bush is being work hardened by the constant attacks.  By election day, he could be on video kicking a weiner dog for the hell of it, and nobody would pay attention.  Michael Moore, the Celebs, Fake memos, etc...  Wolf has been cried long ago, and even valid critiques will be lost in the sea of propaganda. Note that I don't like W (I do indeed think he's a boob), but it's critical that he win the election.

Yes kinda like getting a political flu shot…

The attacks on the President by the Democratic Party and the Left have been so harsh, so negative, so rash, so false, and so sustained I believe they have vaccinated him from a lot of the negative stuff flying now.

this kind of shit just chapps my hide

Kerry's divorce records are also sealed (he beat his ex-wife).

Kerry's tax records are also sealed (his wife cheats on her taxes).

GunLvr

Quoted: Kerry's divorce records are also sealed (he beat his ex-wife). Kerry's tax records are also sealed (his wife cheats on her taxes). GunLvr

Yup...and I've got the Microsoft Word documents to prove it!  Sure, the documents are forged, but the content of the documents is accurate...

Quoted: Both Bush's and John Kerry (news - web sites)'s service records in Vietnam have become a major issue in the presidential race. New records that have surfaced in recent weeks have raised more questions.

Why? I don't know.