Ex-officer: Bush file's details caused concern

By Dave Moniz and Jim Drinkard, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - As Texas Gov. George W. Bush prepared to run for president in
the late 1990s, top-ranking Texas National Guard officers and Bush advisers
discussed ways to limit the release of potentially embarrassing details from
Bush's military records, a former senior officer of the Texas Guard said
Wednesday.

A second former Texas Guard official, who spoke only on condition of
anonymity, was told by a participant that commanders and Bush advisers were
particularly worried about mentions in the records of arrests of Bush before
he joined the National Guard in 1968, the second official said.

Bill Burkett, then a top adviser to the state Guard commander, said he
overheard conversations in which superiors discussed "cleansing" the file of
damaging information.

The White House dismissed Burkett's charge Wednesday. It is an "outrageously
false statement," said White House communications director Dan Bartlett, who
handled the records in the late 1990s as an aide to Gov. Bush.
Administration officials dismiss Burkett as a disgruntled former Guardsman
who had a falling-out with his superiors.

Two forms in Bush's publicly released military files - his enlistment
application and a background check - contain blacked-out entries in response
to questions about arrests or convictions. Bush acknowledged in biographies
published in 1999 that he was arrested twice before he enlisted in the Air
National Guard: once for stealing a wreath and another time for rowdiness at
a Yale-Princeton football game.

The nature of what was blacked out in Bush's records is important because
certain legal problems, such as drug or alcohol violations, could have been
a basis for denying an applicant entry into the Guard or pilot training.
Admission to the Guard and to pilot school was highly competitive at that
time, the height of the Vietnam War.

The National Guard cited privacy as the reason for blacking out answers. The
full, unmarked records have never been released. Bartlett did not respond
Wednesday to a request to release the records with nothing blacked out,
which Bush could do as the subject of the records.

Burkett says that the state Guard commander, Maj. Gen. Daniel James III,
discussed "cleansing" Bush's military files of embarrassing or incriminating
documents in the summer of 1997. At the time, Burkett was a lieutenant
colonel and a chief adviser to James. He says he was just outside James'
open office door when his boss discussed the records on a speakerphone with
Joe Allbaugh, who was then Gov. Bush's chief of staff.

In Burkett's account, Allbaugh told James that Bush's press secretary, Karen
Hughes, was preparing a biography and needed information on Bush's military
service.

In an interview, Burkett said he recalled Allbaugh's words: "We certainly
don't want anything that is embarrassing in there." Burkett said he
immediately told two other officers about the conversation and noted it in a
daily journal he kept. The two officers, George Conn and Dennis Adams,
confirmed to USA TODAY in 2002 that Burkett told them of the conversation
within days.

Soon afterward, there was a series of meetings of top commanders at Texas
Guard headquarters at Camp Mabry. Bush's records were carried between the
base archives and the headquarters building, according to Burkett and the
second Guard official, who was there.

The meetings were confirmed in a 2002 interview by USA TODAY with William
Leon, who was the state Guard's freedom-of-information officer in the 1990s.
He was involved in discussions about what to release. Leon declined to
comment on the substance of the meetings except to say, "We were making sure
we released it properly and made sure we did it in a timely manner."

Contacted at home Wednesday night, he refused to talk to a reporter. He
said: "Don't ever call me again at home. I'll call your publisher and sue
you."

Burkett first made his allegation just before the 2000 election, when it was
carried on some Internet sites but went largely unreported by mainstream
news media. The issue resurfaced Wednesday in the Dallas Morning News as
Bush's military record took center stage in the presidential campaign.

Allbaugh, James and the White House denied Burkett's story. As president,
Bush has since elevated James to be director of the Air National Guard for
the entire country.

In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, Bush said he
fulfilled his Guard commitment and offered to make his records public. Host
Tim Russert asked, "Would you authorize the release of everything to settle
this?" Bush replied, "Yes, absolutely."

Since then, White House officials have released only documents concerning
whether Bush fulfilled his service obligations. White House statements have
not addressed the release of any papers that could show disciplinary
actions, medical exams, legal scrapes and the like.

On Tuesday, the White House released pay records from a military archive in
Denver that it said showed Bush was paid for at least the minimum training
time he was obligated for in 1972 and 1973.

But the records showed only what days he was paid for, not where he was or
what duty he performed. Neither did they address outstanding questions about
why Bush missed a required physical in 1972, forcing him to stop flying, or
what happened during a five-month gap in 1972 when Bush didn't show up for
training.

When reporters asked for further evidence Tuesday, Bush press secretary
Scott McClellan said, "Obviously, if there's any additional information that
came to our attention that was relevant, we would make that information
available."

On Wednesday, McClellan said those seeking additional details on Bush's
records are "trolling for trash for political gain," and engaging in "gutter
politics."

He didn't directly answer a question about why Bush had missed his physical.

And Bartlett said: "The issue is about the president's service in the
National Guard. The president said he was committed to releasing any records
we have to show that he served."

Contributing: Judy Keen

Hey George... probably be easier on everyone to just post the F*CKING
link.

"George Bush" wrote in message
k.net...
Ex-officer: Bush file's details caused concern

No need to resort to profanity.

I'm trying my hardest to get the clown unelected. We need a new clown.

Vote for gridlock!

GB

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
Hey George... probably be easier on everyone to just post the F*CKING
link.

"George Bush" wrote in message
k.net...
Ex-officer: Bush file's details caused concern

OZ stated: Hey you could vote for him because of the good work he's done =
in
Michigan. 3000jobs lost in Greenville

That wasn't Bush....that was Clinton adn NAFTA....NAFTA needs to be way =
gone...soon.....it was also Jennifer Granholm, our lovely governor who =
dowsn't know what the stff she's doing...she is making Michigan a =
wasteland....

--=20
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein

Please... take my job now. Don't wait. Sorry, long week.

OzOne wrote in message ...
On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 17:29:51 -0500, "katysails"
scribbled thusly:

OZ stated: Hey you could vote for him because of the good work he's done
in
Michigan. 3000jobs lost in Greenville

That wasn't Bush....that was Clinton adn NAFTA....NAFTA needs to be way
gone...soon....

OK, now I remember.
Oz is in the process of signing a FTA with the US.
Pretty soon....if your dollar finally climbs ot of the basement..we'll
be taking your jobs too. :-)


Oz1...of the 3 twins.

I welcome you to crackerbox palace,We've been expecting you.

We've got one of those in Washington. Michigan does not have a Locke on
silliness. Boeing, Boeing Gone!

"katysails" wrote in message
...
OZ stated: Hey you could vote for him because of the good work he's done in
Michigan. 3000jobs lost in Greenville

That wasn't Bush....that was Clinton adn NAFTA....NAFTA needs to be way
gone...soon.....it was also Jennifer Granholm, our lovely governor who
dowsn't know what the stff she's doing...she is making Michigan a
wasteland....

--
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein

"katysails" wrote

our lovely governor
....she is making Michigan , a wasteland....

into what?