Bush accuser comes under scrutiny

Bush accuser comes under scrutiny
Questions raised over recollections about National Guard service
By Norah O'Donnell, Correspondent NBC News
Feb. 13, 2004

WASHINGTON - Questions of credibility are being raised about a man who says he overheard advisers close to President Bush plotting to scrub clean Bush's military records.

In the Boston Globe on Friday, a key witness to some of the events described by retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, says central elements of Burkett's story are false.

Burkett, a retired Texas National Guard officer, said Wednesday he overheard a conversation in 1997 between then-Gov. Bush's chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh, and Lt. Gen., Daniel James, then adjutant general of the Texas Air National Guard, in which he contends those two men spoke about getting rid of any military records that would "embarrass the governor."

Burkett said he saw documents from Bush's file discarded in a trash can a few days later at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. Burkett described them as performance and pay documents. He said the documents bore the header: "Bush, George W. 1lt." ?- meaning first lieutenant.

Burkett's credibility questioned

George Conn, a former warrant officer with the Guard and a friend of Burkett's, is the person who Burkett claims led him into a room where the Bush records were being put in the trash. "I have no recall of that," Conn told the Boston Globe.

?'For anyone to suggest that he [Lt. Gen. James] or I or a member of his staff wanted to alter any of the records, absolutely false, pure hogwash, that's all it is, hogwash.'

?- Joe M. Allbaugh
President Bush's former chief of staff

The report also quotes Conn as saying that although Burkett told him he worried that the Bush record would be sanitized, he never mentioned overhearing the conversation between Allbaugh and General Daniel James III.

Allbaugh's response
In an interview with NBC News, Allbaugh admits he did have "several conversations" with James about getting Bush's National Guard record. But Allbaugh says he never instructed anyone to remove "embarrassing files."

"For anyone to suggest that he or I or a member of his staff wanted to alter any of the records, absolutely false, pure hogwash, that's all it is, hogwash," he said.

Allbaugh says he has "never heard" of Burkett before.

Allbaugh described his conversations with James as an effort to review the files and then to make some of them public.

"We had several conversations about it, that obviously people were going to be asking about his honorable service, and we wanted to know how to make the information available, and we didn't know where the official records were kept" said Allbaugh.

As for charges by Democrats that Bush shirked his duties, Allbaugh said, "That's unacceptable and inappropriate. AWOL means absent without leave. I remind you at the time of service in the National Guard, it was a very fluid situation, many people served at sporadic times but put their service in. They were allowed to, based upon their unit commanders, to make up their time."

Campaign issue

At issue are records over Bush's service in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Bush enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Air Force Base on May 27, 1968.

He performed most of his service in Texas, but he transferred to an Alabama unit for a time because he was working as the political director for the Senate campaign of Winton Blount, a Bush family friend.

Timeline President's service record

President Bush's military service has been questioned by Democrats, who claim his family pulled strings to keep him out of Vietnam. Below is a timeline of his National Guard service:

Jan. 19, 1968
Bush completes Air Force officer qualifications test in New Haven, Conn., while attending Yale University.

May 27, 1968
Walter B. Staudt, commander of the Texas National Guard, interviews Bush and recommends he be accepted for pilot training. Bush's application for enlistment in the Guard is approved.

June 1968
Bush receives bachelor of arts degree from Yale.

July 12, 1968
A three-member Federal Recognition Examining Board reports Bush is qualified for promotion to 2nd Lieutenant in the 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron.

July 14, 1968
Bush attends basic military training in San Antonio.

Aug. 25, 1968
Completes basic military training.

Nov. 26, 1968 - Dec. 2, 1969
Attends undergraduate pilot training with the 3559th Student Squadron, Moody Air Force Base, Ga. He is trained to fly standard Air Force aircraft, including the T-31, T-37, and T-39.

Dec. 29, 1969 - Jan. 20, 1970
Trainee, 111th Squadron, Ellington Air Force Base, near Houston.

Jan. 11, 1970
Assigned flying duty as a pilot of F-102 fighter interceptors, 111th Squadron at Ellington.

Aug. 24, 1970
Three-member board recommends 2nd Lt. Bush for promotion to first lieutenant. Bush later receives the promotion.

1971
Participates in drills and alerts at Ellington. Begins work for Houston-based agricultural company.

May 1972
Bush asks for and receives permission to continue his duties in Alabama while he works as political director on the Senate campaign of Winton M. Blount, a friend of his father. Loses flight credentials after missing physical exam.

Sept. 6, 1972
Bush's request for a three-month transfer to 187th TAC Recon Group, Montgomery, Ala. is approved so he can work as political director for a Senate campaign.

November 1972
Bush returns to his unit at Ellington in Texas.

May-July 1973
Participates in non-flying drills at Ellington. Works at inner-city poverty program earlier in the year.

Sept. 18, 1973
Bush receives permission to transfer to reserve status and is placed on inactive guard duty about six months before six-year commitment ends. Attends Harvard Business School in the fall.

Oct. 1, 1973
Receives honorable discharge.

Source: The Associated Press • Print this

Democrats have charged there is no proof that Bush actually showed up for duty in Alabama. White House officials say Bush recalls serving both in Texas and Alabama and has provided new documents ?- a dental record and payroll information ?- from his file that they say corroborate Bush's recollections.

The last day Bush was paid for Guard duty was July 30, 1973. Bush was placed on inactive Guard duty six months before his commitment ended because he was starting Harvard Business School, and he was honorably discharged.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.