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.
The judge is responding to a Freedom of Information request from the A.P. about Bush's records; the A.P. apparently did not ask for Kerry's records or they presumably would also have been included in the judge's order.
The judged said that she was to get the drugs back.
Insane, yes. But that's New York. Probably Ron Kuby represented the woman.
"Judge Baer was appointed to the bench by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate by unanimous voice vote in 1994.."
LOL
Exactly how many drills did Ready Reservist John Kerry attend from January 3, 1970 to March 1, 1972?
The guy is a lunatic.
Tell Kerry to sign form 180 then asshole to release all his records. Thomas Jefferson created the judiciary in the 3rd article so it would be the weakest branch of gov't. When are you activist judges going to realize you don't run the country, you are not gods.
Should have read the whole thread before posting above. I see others remember this clown too!
"Pity that I, a housewife, am more resourceful than a "news organization".:"
But your agenda is looking for the truth.
Their's is looking for anything to cover their lies.
It'll be hard for Kerry to hide his bogus purple heart citations now.
A lot has been made about Baer's appointment by Clinton, plus his ruling the drug case, but he was also the judge who found a link between Iraq and 9/11:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/9/8/122619.shtml
Thursday, September 16, 2004Judicial Nominations & Confirmations
President George W. Bush submitted the following name to the US Senate for a District Judge position:
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.
This is incredible, insane.. lol am I getting paranoid or is there really a left conspiracy to hijack the presidency underway..
"There shouldn't be any "official" records scattered anywhere."
I beg to differ. Official records are recorded for different purposes, and go to different places.
The Official Officer Personnel Record File (in the Army, we called it the 201 file) WOULD be in one place, so to speak. But some documents are not personnel-matters-related and don't go into the personnel file.
They are also looking for other records which relate to Bush. E.G. his flight logs would not have been in his Personnel file, just guessing here, but would have come from flight operations at the unit(s) where he flew; this is an e.g.
The After Action Reports relating to Kerry's awards are not in HIS personnel file. They come from the unit history. Etc. and for example.
Your pay records are not in your Personnel file; they are in your Finance File. Your Medical record is not in your Personnel File, it is in your Medical File at the hospital. etc. What I have seen about Lt Bush was his personnel file from the Tx NG.
The AP went to court in June.
They're quite indignant about not getting "all" the records.
Evidently they think they're going to "find" something other than GWB having served, like every scrap of paper so far shows.
Yes, the same AP that attended the May 4 Swift Vets press conference but decided it wasn't newsworthy. Over 100 impressive men (at the time; their ranks have swelled) appear to say in unison that John Kerry is "Unfit", and the AP yawns and files for GWB's Guard records.
Okay, then. I agree. There should be no panic about how this will effect Bush. The entire country has just witnessed CBS forging documents to benefit Kerry. They will know this is the Dems latest effort.
The angle to this that disgusts me is the judge overstepping authority to violate the privacy of thousands of service members. I understand why the judge did it. I think earlier statements this was planned by the DNC in connection to the forged documents is accurate.
It sickens me the implications of this judgement. If anything, the GOP should be out using this verdict to explain to the people WHY we need to rein in the judges. Nothing will incense them more than knowing that our service members rights are ordered violated to seek information that may or may not even exist about an inconsequential matter.
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