Drudge - Judge orders government to find, release all Bush military records...

Drudge Report ^ | 9/16/04 | MATT KELLEY

[Spackidagoosh]

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.

[savedbygrace]

If it were anyone but JW, I might grow some confidence.

[drungus]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1144012/posts

[Freepdonia]

The documents the judge ordered released may or may not exist. They are to be found in the personal records of OTHER service men and women. In effect, the judge is saying they should examine every single file on record from every single person that has ever served to look for any mention of George W. Bush.

If that's the case, then that's outrageous. How can this fool justify that?

Again, I don't see it hurting the President, but Baer's order defecates on all service men and womens' privacy rights.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

All the more reason that law abiding citizens, who want America to remain free, need to be armed.

[xzins]

worldnet or fox needs to make a similar request regarding kerry

beyond that, I'm not sure why a judge has the authority to order such a thing...especially regarding medical records.

[Soul Seeker]

Which is the source of my outrage.

[soycd]

Dear RAT judge:

STUFF IT

[cyncooper]

He's not ordering the Commander-in-Chief to do anything. He's ordering a Presidential candidate to do something.

He's not doing either.

He's ordering the Pentagon to produce the documents. Bush has already,long ago, instructed them to do the same.

[Thrusher]

In other news, Judge Ima Demhack recently ordered the Republican National Committee to stop beating its wife, and demanded that President Bush hand over any evidence from which Dan Rather might possibly infer that he eats small Lithuanian children for breakfast.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

My Favorite post for dims and trolls
who slither in here each day.
And the Lame Stream media
who find the real news on Free Republic,
then rewrite and spin the truth.

JOHN KERRY
CLICK HERE TO SIGN FORM 180

WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?
WHAT IS YOUR SECRET?
WHAT DON'T YOU WANT
AMERICA AND THE PRESS TO KNOW?

[applpie]

this is total crap! time for insurrection and i am a mild mannered middle aged white woman!!!! but i promise to do my part. the problem is there are plenty of dems left over from the clinton administration in the government (hence the schizophrenic behavior sometimes of agencies) and I would bet in the pentagon as well who just may roll over and respond to this facist judge.

[cyncooper]

I missing the "panicking' except from the tone of YOUR post.

Calm down

[tioga]

woa, good find. carter appointee, it figures........

[Freepdonia]

I missing the "panicking' except from the tone of YOUR post. Calm down

Where have I been panicking?

[etcb]

The Form 180 so many people are talking about only authorizes the release of the individual's own file. It has nothing to do with a general release of military records. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) deals with the release of information maintained by the government which is not protected by the Privacy Act. This judge is ruling on a FOIA request.

[marty60]

The case against Judge Baer is very different from that of "the Romer 6." Analysis of his first controversial opinion reveals a fairly detailed interaction with the facts, evidence and precedents pertinent to the case.183 He was using the tools of his trade. He was not making up new constitutional "rights" or legislating from the bench. The problem with Baer’s first opinion was pointed out in his own words in his second opinion: A legal opinion stands for a proposition of law, a holding. Additional material which is included in most opinions but which does not relate directly to the holding is known as dicta. Although dicta may color the holding of an opinion, it by no means constitutes a legal or factual conclusion. On that score, unfortunately the hyperbole (dicta) in my initial decision not only obscured the true focus of my analysis, but regretfully may have demeaned the law-abiding men and women who make Washington Heights their home and the vast majority of the dedicated men and women in blue who patrol the streets of our great City.184 Baer’s comments, about demeaning the police, refer to statements in his first opinion implying that the police in question were part of a corrupt and incompetent force and that a specific officer who had testified was not to be believed.185 As a result, Baer originally suppressed 34 kilograms of cocaine and 2 kilograms of heroin and a confession to twenty drug-running trips.186 Even this does not rise to the level of constituting judicial tyranny in any of the senses encountered in the Romer opinion. On the other hand, Baer’s confession of analytical incompetence could have serious consequences if this opinion is not an anomaly. Impeachment was used to remove the incompetent Judge Pickering in 1803—but only because he was thought insane. Thus, targeting Baer for impeachment is probably near the edge of legitimacy. If Congress is concerned that this is a judge who is demonstrating a pattern of analytical incompetence, it could certainly investigate him. There would be cause for concern if there were numerous instances in which any such incompetence were endangering the public as it did in the Bayless case. We have seen that scrutiny less than a congressional investigation has had a salutary effect. However, calling for Baer’s impeachment based on this one opinion alone appears to be illegitimate. From the Regent University Law review

Vol.10, 1998

[GOPologist]

You are right!!Pres. Bush will get 5% more votes for this travesty! Let's make that 60% Bush; 35% Scarie; and 5% for all others.

[OXENinFLA]

HUGH HEWITT: IT'S FORM 180.

[Logical me]

Now is the time for the Justice Department to step in and inform the judge that he must submit authority to do what the judge is ordering. If there is abuse of his authority, refer it to an investigation of this judge. What in the hell do we have a Justice Department for?

[rintense]

Would some one PLEASE sue to get Kerry's military records released?!?!?!?!?! Rush, Hannity, Coulter, Savage... I don't care who.