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Wed 23 Jun, 2004 05:25 pm
AP Sues for Access to Bush Guard Records
Tue Jun 22, 5:18 PM ET Add Politics - AP to My Yahoo!
By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The Associated Press sued the Pentagon and the Air Force on Tuesday, seeking access to all records of George W. Bush's military service during the Vietnam War.
Filed in federal court in New York, where The AP is headquartered, the lawsuit seeks access to a copy of Bush's microfilmed personnel file from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin.
The White House says the government has already released all the records of Bush's military service.
Controversy surrounds Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard because it is unclear from the record what duties he performed for the military when he was working on the political campaign of a U.S. Senate candidate in Alabama.
There are questions as to whether the file provided to the news media earlier this year is complete, says the lawsuit, adding that these questions could possibly be answered by reviewing a copy of the microfilm of Bush's personnel file in the Texas archives.
The Air National Guard of the United States, a federal entity, has control of the microfilm, which should be disclosed in its entirety under the Freedom of Information Act, the lawsuit says.
The White House has yet to respond to a request by the AP in April asking the president to sign a written waiver of his right to keep records of his military service confidential. Bush gave an oral waiver in a TV appearance that preceded the White House's release this year of materials concerning his National Guard service.
The government "did not expedite their response ... they did not produce the file within the time required by law, and they will not now estimate when the file might be produced or even confirm that an effort has been initiated to retrieve a copy from the microfilm at the Texas archives," the lawsuit says.
In the absence of any privacy objection by the president and in light of the importance of the file's release in advance of the November election, says the lawsuit, AP seeks a court order to compel the release of records "that are being unlawfully withheld from the public."
The released records were from the Texas Air National Guard at Camp Mabry and the Defense Financing Accounting Service in Denver.
Under Texas law, a copy of military personnel files of those serving in the Texas Air National Guard must be retained on microfilm at the Texas archives.
The lawsuit says that no one has looked at any of the Texas Air National Guard records maintained at the state archives since 1996.
Responding to AP's request, the Texas Air National Guard concluded that Bush's file was a federal record under control of the U.S. Air National Guard.
When the government did not produce the documents, AP appealed to the Pentagon, saying that by law, the microfilm copy should have been produced within 20 days. The Pentagon said it could not respond within the legally required period.
Good for AP! It's ridiculous all the secrecy that's gone unchallenged by the media.
Here's the skinny, brace yourself cause this will eventually be proven.
Bush was AWOL without repurcussion after a drug bust that resulted in community service hours at an inner city poverty program.
SCOTUS appointed a felon POTUS. Great for us.
buffytheslayer wrote:Here's the skinny, brace yourself cause this will eventually be proven.
Bush was AWOL without repurcussion after a drug bust that resulted in community service hours at an inner city poverty program.
SCOTUS appointed a felon POTUS. Great for us.
This is definitely one OPINION. Another opinion says he wasn't AWOL, and that he served his time in one function or another.
I assume you use the term
loosely
Not unless he had sex with one of his officers in order to cover-up the AWOL.
McG, You're giving Bush a lot of leeway here, that I doubt you'd give to, say, Clinton.
Is that because you want it to be true that he did his time honorably, even though questions remain unanswered and the admin keeps trying to close this book?
I wonder if you're being honest with yourself.
What would you say, if, by some amazing feat of being able to get at all the information, it was found that he was indeed AWOL?
Still fit to be pres?
McG would support the shrub if he paraded naked down Pennsylvania Avenue.
the reincarnation of suzy wrote:McG, You're giving Bush a lot of leeway here, that I doubt you'd give to, say, Clinton.
Is that because you want it to be true that he did his time honorably, even though questions remain unanswered and the admin keeps trying to close this book?
I wonder if you're being honest with yourself.
What would you say, if, by some amazing feat of being able to get at all the information, it was found that he was indeed AWOL?
Still fit to be pres?
Let me ask you this:
So far, ALL the evidence points to the fact that he WAS
NOT AWOL, yet some continue to claim that he was. Are YOU being honest with YOUR self?
I think so, because we haven't seen all the evidence, and Bush is trying to prevent us from doing so. Don't you think there's something fishy about that? There has not been a satisfactory answer for that missing year, so it bothers me that anyone thinks this has been thoroughly investigated!
Have you abandoned your "Vicious Bloodthirsty Bastards" thread, McG?
AP Lawyer: It's 'Curious' We've Had to Sue for Bush Records
AP Lawyer: It's 'Curious' We've Had to Sue for Bush Records
President George W. Bush
By Joe Strupp
Published: June 24, 2004 12:01 AM EST
NEW YORK The Associated Press has sued the Pentagon and Air Force, seeking access to all records of President George W. Bush's military service, but the news agency wonders why it has come to this.
"It seems a little curious because the president made a pretty forceful presentation that he had nothing to hide," said AP General Counsel Dave Tomlin, when asked for his reaction to what the AP considers government stonewalling. "But we are not surprised."
Tomlin told E&P the lawsuit is needed to get access to a portion of Bush's record that may offer more information than the paper files previously released. "The paper file may not be everything," he said. "It has been there a long while, it could conceivably be tampered with."
Because the microfilm record has been in storage and "it can't be altered, that access to the microfilm would settle the matter," Tomlin added.
When asked why a lawsuit was needed, he said, "the administrative efforts we've made just aren't getting traction."
Tomlin said he did not expect White House officials to "rush right over with the information," after the lawsuit was filed, but expected a proper response. "It is important to get this; we'd like to see priority handling on it."
The suit, filed in federal court in New York on Tuesday, seeks access to a copy of Bush's microfilmed personnel file from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin. The White House has said it has already released all records of Bush's military service.
The Air National Guard has control of the microfilm, which should be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, the lawsuit claims. AP says the records "are being unlawfully withheld from the public." The lawsuit adds that no one has looked at any of the Bush military records at the state archives since 1996.
Y'all just wait. Bush had his flight privileges revoked for a reason. lol sheeple go baa baa.
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