Text 2380, 134 rader
Skriven 2004-09-18 20:00:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Documents
=================
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&u=/ap/20040918/ap_on_el_pr
/bush_guard_questions&printer=1


Ex-Guardsman: I Contacted Kerry Campaign 

1 hour, 52 minutes ago 

By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press Writer 

AUSTIN, Texas - A retired Texas National Guard official mentioned as a 
possible source for disputed documents about President Bush (news - web 
sites)'s service in the Guard said he passed along information to a 
former senator working with John Kerry (news - web sites)'s campaign.  

Also Saturday, a White House official said Bush has reviewed disputed 
documents that purport to show he refused orders to take a physical 
examination in 1972 and did not recall having seen them previously. 


The long-running story on Bush's Texas Air National Guard service took 
an unusual twist when CBS broadcast a report on what it said were the 
newly discovered records. The authenticity of the documents has come 
into doubt. 


In his first public comment on the CBS documents controversy, the 
president told The Union Leader of Manchester, N.H., "There are a lot of 
questions about the documents, and they need to be answered." 


The retired Guard official, Bill Burkett, said in an Aug. 21 e-mail to a 
list of Texas Democrats that after getting through "seven layers of 
bureaucratic kids" in the Democrat's campaign, he talked with former 
Georgia Sen. Max Cleland about information that would counter criticism 
of Kerry's Vietnam War service. The Associated Press obtained a copy of 
the e-mail Saturday. 


"I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground and 
outlast it, not spending any money. (Cleland) said counterattack. So I 
gave them the information to do it with," Burkett wrote. 


Burkett, who lives just outside of Abilene, wrote that no one at the 
Kerry campaign called him back. 


The e-mail was distributed to a Yahoo list of Texas Democrats. The site, 
which had about 570 members Saturday, is not affiliated with the state 
party. 


Republican National Committee (news - web sites) spokesman Jim Dyke 
suggested collaboration between Burkett and the Kerry campaign. "The 
trail of connections is becoming increasingly clear," he said. 


In the telephone interview published Saturday, Bush replied "I don't 
know" to a question whether the White House had evidence that either the 
Kerry campaign or the Democratic Party were involved in releasing the 
disputed papers. 


"The Kerry campaign had absolutely nothing to do with these documents, 
no ifs, ands or buts," spokesman David Wade said. "Jim Dyke inhabits the 
fantasy world of spin where George Bush (news - web sites) pretends we 
haven't lost millions of jobs and everything in Iraq (news - web sites) 
is coming up roses. He'd be better served getting answers from the 
president, not hurling baseless attacks." 


Burkett, who identifies himself as a Democrat, did not return several 
phone messages left by The Associated Press over the past week. There 
was no answer at his telephone number Saturday. 


Burkett's lawyer, David Van Os, a Democratic candidate for the Texas 
Supreme Court, issued a statement this week saying Burkett "no longer 
trusts any possible outcome of speaking to the press on any issue 
regarding George W. Bush." 


Burkett, who retired from the National Guard in 1999, has been cited in 
media reports as a source for the CBS News "60 Minutes" story about 
documents allegedly written by one of Bush's former commanders that 
indicated the future president ignored an order to take a physical. 


The authenticity of the documents has been called into question by some 
experts and relatives of the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who supposedly 
wrote them when he supervised Bush in 1972 and 1973. One of the memos 
indicated that Killian had been pressured to sugarcoat Bush's 
performance. 


CBS has stood by its reporting, but said the network would redouble its 
efforts to determine the authenticity of the documents. 


Leading operatives for the Texas Democratic Party did not receive 
Burkett's August e-mail, said Kelly Fero, one of the state party's 
strategists. 


"The Democrats who run the party and are sort of the main strategists in 
Texas never saw it," Fero said. "We have lots of groups of Democrats who 
communicate among themselves constantly by e-mail." 

Burkett, 55, told the AP in a lengthy telephone interview in February 
that he now is a supporter of Democrats, although at the time he said he 
didn't necessarily back Kerry. 

He said he overheard a conversation in 1997 between then-Gov. Bush's 
chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh, and then-Adjutant Gen. Daniel James of the 
Texas Air National Guard in which the two men spoke of 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. Burkett described them as 
performance and pay documents. Allbaugh and James denied the 
allegations. 

Burkett retired from the National Guard after more than 28 years of 
service because of medical reasons. He was involved in a lawsuit against 
the Guard over his medical benefits, which he lost on appeal. 

___ 

Associated Press writers Scott Lindlaw in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Liz 
Austin in Dallas contributed to this report.

--- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 10
 * Origin:  (1:226/600)