Posted on 09/16/2004 1:52:12 PM PDT by Spackidagoosh
Edited on 09/16/2004 2:17:33 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
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.
Judicial Watch is doing just that.
This is scary though this means the privacy act we as soldiers signed is no longer valid. This means that all paperwork having your name on it endangers other personell who served with you.
I wonder if we could do a FOIA on Kerrys military records.
You're right, I'm sure it was planned.
My problem is the judge overreaching authority. Just what do they mean when they say the Pentagon should release all files on G.W.? G.W. signed a 180 to release all his personal records. Are they attempting to open OTHERS files to dig for information about G.W. that may or may not exist? That is what I want to know.
Oh, I understand all that. The point is to put pressure on the AP to have to EXPLAIN to the masses why they haven't put pressure on Kerry to release his records.
Isn't it DasHole's daughter who works for the AP?
He knows Bush would do anything for fear of looking like he is abusing his position as POTUS, they are trying to get Bush on the defensive, it isn't going to work.
btw, this is another tactical mistake by the DNC.
Get it off of Vietnam? The news media is just keeping on the front burner.
This is because the AP is suing for Bush's records but the AP is not suing for Kerry's records. THAT IS THE STORY - AP goes to court to sue for Bush’s records yet they have no interest in Kerry’s highly disputed records. Could the bias be any more blatant?
Guess who appointed the Judge..
Judicial watch just went to the Navy and got turned down, now we have precedent if they sue. LOL!
Judge Baer is a CLINTON APPOINTEE to the federal bench, BTW (1994).
I think Rather got caught trying to play cards with the President. Rather smiled and the President knew exactly what Rather had in his hand.
Actually it can't. That is what the Swifties ran into. Medical records and other personal records are protected and you need to sign a form 180 to release them.
LOL! You have nailed it. The sequence of events is very telling. At least we now have the blueprint. Next are the drug charges, homosexual and abortion issues to suppress the religious vote (as they did with the DUI).
Just more stupidity from the left. They WILL continue to pursue this dead issue. Even Clinton calling from the cardiac ward told the campaign managers that this tactic was counterproductive, but they wouldn't listen. The public is emphatically NOT interested in ancient history.
The controversy over the original ruling and the decision to reinstate the evidence ignited a debate about whether political leaders were meddling in the courts. President Clinton said that he "regrets his decision" to appoint Baer and Bob Dole called for Baer to be impeached. This prompted four judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to respond in a March 28 statement, "The recent attacks on a trial judge of our circuit have gone to far. ... These attacks do a grave disservice to the principle of an independent judiciary (David S. Broder, "Rehnquist's rebuke to Dole and Clinton," Boston Globe, April 15, 1996, p. 11)."
plus
Paul A. Crotty of New York, was nominated to be US District Judge for the Southern District of New York. He will replace Harold Baer, Jr. who is retiring.
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So that explains that the judge IS biased and has an agenda. Me thinks that the DNC "judge shopped" to get the results they want.
Can we do the same?
This is a judge overstepping his ground, even if Bush granted authority to the pentagon to release his records, it does not mean a judge can override the privacy act set up to protect service members.
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