AP Lawyer: It's 'Curious' We've Had to Sue for Bush Records

[Octafish]

AP Lawyer: It's 'Curious' We've Had to Sue for Bush Records

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.

CONTINUED...

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000550641

[librechik]

1. I'm still betting this record will not turn up

it will be mysteriiously missing--anyone else want to join my pool?

Shrub is fiendishly clever (LOL<I meant Rove) and you can do a lot of "special stuff" when your dad is president.

[Octafish]

2. Yeh, the BFEE knows how to use a shredder.

The microfiche will likely turn up with a snipped-out section.



Coincidence, librechik? We both think not.

[wicket]

3. It'll have an 18 minute gap

*snort* :D

[SoCalDem]

5. 18 MONTH gap

:)

[CO Liberal]

11. And His IQ Has an 18-Point Gap

:dunce:
Dubya

[Octafish]

13. 82 seems a tad high.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. At least, if these records have some deletions, it'll be pretty obvious,

and proof that Shrubco record tampering goes back a long way. Like if there's no DD214 in these records either, then at least the fact that something got hidden will be obvious.

[teryang]

7. No question something is hidden

...but I don't think one gets a DD 214 for active duty for training nor inactive duty for training which is all he had after his initial active duty period. There are or should be regularly kept records of this both in kind hard copy and computer generated printouts which are usually generated when you leave a unit so you can keep track of retirement points.

It is his failure to report for inactive duty for training which is in issue if I understand the story correctly.

[HereSince1628]

10. I thought a DD214 was a service summary...

records entry to service, trainings, posts served at etc. As such I would expect it to have all the general info.

Maybe I'm wrong, there must be some DUer who has worked in military personnel.

[teryang]

15. DD 214 is evidence of active duty service

not reserve or guard service not on active duty.

[HereSince1628]

16. Ok, so, flight school would show up...but not TANG or AANG service.

So if he had a DD214 it wouldn't show the points of interest about Bush's service during the 18 months in question.

[teryang]

18. Right but there should be other documents

The absence of those documents or the absence of entries reflecting inactive duty for training during the relevant period would be some indications of failure to perform his obligation.

[Jackpine Radical]

19. OK--as a draftee (67-69), I'm not framiliar with NG paperwork,

but there must be some summary documentation & maybe even some disciplinary records for failure to take the physical? At least an Article 15 or something?

[teryang]

22. Right absence of entries in summary docs

...and/or absence of the primary documentation upon which they are based. I have still have both from a couple of years of service in the naval reserve, (almost 20 years ago) every single drill period is accounted for, if I didn't go to something, the make up is recorded.

If I didn't go at all, there is no entry and no IBM card flimsy copy. Er, that would mean that I didn't go at all that weekend or that month. (I wasn't obligated, my obligation was complete). If there is a fifteen point entry, that would be for ACDUTRA. My pilot colleagues did more than two weeks ACDUTRA in order to keep their flight qualifications up for their type aircraft anytime the funds were available.

[Octafish]

8. 'James R Bath' was blacked out from Smirk's 'service' file...

... according to one DUer a while back. Bath's is a name that should be making the big media rounds now that the general public is beginning to show interest in how the Bushes and bin Ladens have been reeeeal friendly and all over the decades.

Bath, as most DUers know, served with Bush in the Texas ANG and was removed from pilot status when he failed to take his physical, just like his wealthy li'l buddy Bush. Bath also invested bin Mahfouz and bin Laden money in Bush companies, like HARKEN Energy. A real nice guy, Bath also was a big-wig in BCCI and looted S&Ls. So... if there's anyone Bush doesn't want the AP to write BIG about, it's Bath.

[seemslikeadream]

26. Why was James R Bath's name redacted from Bush Mil records?

Dac_76

Salon: Why was James R Bath's name redacted from Bush Mil records?

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/04/27/james_bath /
***snip****
The document that raises that question is dated Sept. 29, 1972, and notes that 1st Lt. George W. Bush was suspended from flying because of his "failure to accomplish annual medical examination." Since he had just received hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of training as a jet fighter pilot, the fact that Bush let his medical certification lapse raises a troubling matter. Why did he allow himself to become ineligible to fly when he still had two years of service left? Given that random drug testing by the military had just started, some have suggested that Bush had not yet given up his partying ways and may have begged off because he had a substance abuse problem.

The records released by the White House last month fail to answer that question, but they do add one compelling fact to the story -- namely, that Bush was not the only man in his unit to be suspended for failing to take the physical, and that someone else at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston was suspended for exactly the same reason at almost the same time. However, in the documents, the second man's name was inexplicably redacted -- raising new questions.

Throughout the reams of documents released by the administration, standard practice was to allow each National Guardsman's name to be printed in full. Why did the White House make an exception in this case? Why would the Bush administration want to make sure this name in particular did not make it into the public eye?

***snip****
http://sugarinthegourd.com/redacted.html


truthspeaker
So is James R Bath still alive?
If so, where is he, and how can he be contacted?
Get the Truth at www.truthspeaker.org


blm
James R. Bath is Bush's longtime partner in crimes and coverups.
He was involved in Bush's illegal abortion coverup and in Bush's BCCI dealings on Harken where he made his first big chunk of money off the Harken deal through James Bath and the Bin Laden family.

Bath is a hush man and fixer for Bush. Has been for over 30 years. Kinda like a James Baker but operates in the shadows.

I have long said to get to the truth about Bush, the media needs to trace the documents on James Bath. If those, too, are missing then they'll have a SUPER SCANDAL on their hands.

Our focus should be Bush, Bath and Bin Laden....BCCI connects them.


Tellurian
in Unger's article is Bush Sr. rewarded Bath, after the AWOL incident, with a CIA appointment early on and masterminded the interaction and associations between Bath and the Bin Laden family. He also used Bath as cover to funnel money into Baby's failing oil venture Arbusto...


Joanne98
James R Bath =BCCI
He also wrote a check for that abortion. I think.


Joanne98
I"m not sure I remember this right but I'll try.
I think, it was in 1972 and she was 15. Those two things are important because she was a minor and abortions weren't legal till 73. Bush got her pregnant and Bath wrote a check for the abortion. Bush and Bath were together alot in 72. Anyway Larry Flynt is suppose to have an article out on this story this summer. I guess we have to wait to see want he does. He says he's got it locked up. Her girlfriend broke the story but she won't talk. She's married to an FBI agent now. That's all I know.


AZCat
Good James R Bath thread...
link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic...

If you are looking for info on Bath, this is the spot (thanks to everyone who provided stuff, esp. DemoTex, Stephanie, Octafish, buycitgo).


starroute

Bath's ties to Houston real estate/S&L scandals/Iran-Contra

After leaving the National Guard, Bath was introduced into Houston business circles by Jack Trotter (a business partner of Houston real estate developer and Bush crony Walt Mischer.) Bath then became a partner in various real estate deals with Lan Bentsen (son of Senator Lloyd Bentsen, who was also a close friend of Mischer's.)

These three names -- Trotter, Mischer, and Bentsen -- show up over and over in accounts of Houston business dealings. Googling them in various combinations leads in a number of interesting directions. (For example, in the late 90's, Trotter and Mischer were working together to destroy the progressive income tax.)

A resume of Bath's from this period includes as references both Trotter and Sidney A. Adger. Adger, a Houston businessman and friend of Bush Sr.'s, was the man who pulled the strings that got Bush Jr. into the Air National Guard.

Another figure of interest is Robert Corson, who was the business partner of one of Adger's sons and was also Walt Mischer's son-in-law. Corson was eventually indicted in the savings-and-loan scandals and died of a supposed drug overdose in 1992 while on his way to Houston to testify. It has been claimed that he was involved in CIA drug smuggling and money laundering and had inside knowledge of Iran-Contra which he was about to reveal.

It seems as though Bath's CIA and Saudi connections were part of a larger picture involving all these other factors as well. Although Bath himself is a mysterious and shadowy figure, people like Trotter and Mischer are far better documented, and their doings may shed light on just what is so problematic about Bath.

See:
http://www.webcom.com/~pinknoiz/covert/brewton.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories...
http://www.krigskronikan.com/arkiv/bcci/Time%20Magazine%20-%20b28%20-%...
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0208/S00148.htm
http://sanderhicks.com/billwhite.html
http://mediameyhem.blogspot.com/2004_01_25_mediameyhem_archive.html
(This last has a Trotter/Mischer/Bentsen story just below the Bath info.)

And for Trotter and Mischer's latest doings:
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/1997/01/20/story8.html
http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/page1/98/04/06/salestax.html
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/2000-07-27/curr.html


Minstrel Boy
It's been staring you in the face all along, America.
Bush, Bath, BCCI and bin Laden.
You've ignored it at your peril. The time's getting short. Start connecting the dots, while you can.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1480644

[anarchy1999]

6. "Curious", just about says it all, you think?

Jeeaaazzzz, pleasseeasesss.

"CURIOUS??" Damn. What more, please just someone tell me what more and how much more do you need to convict criminals of crimes? Maybe that is the part I'm missing, there aren't anymore crimes, just terrorism. Whoops, maybe that's it.

[Octafish]

12. Control the press, the Courts, the Congress, and the Executive...

... and you've got the BFEE. What's next on their "To-Control" list? The Jury?

From the article:

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.

From Monty Python:



"We wuz too late."

[catzies]

21. You just said the magic word - "archives!"

http://www.archivists.org/statements/weinstein.asp

Statement on the Nomination of Allen Weinstein to Become Archivist of the United States
April 14, 2004

We are concerned about the sudden announcement on April 8, 2004, that the White House has nominated Allen Weinstein to become the next Archivist of the United States. Prior to the announcement, there was no consultation with professional organizations of archivists or historians. This is the first time since the National Archives and Records Administration was established as an independent agency that the process of nominating an Archivist of the United States has not been open for public discussion and input. We believe that Professor Weinstein must—through appropriate and public discussions and hearings—demonstrate his ability to meet the criteria that will qualify him to serve as Archivist of the United States.

When former President Ronald Reagan signed the National Archives and Records Administration Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-497), he said that, “the materials that the Archives safeguards are precious and irreplaceable national treasures and the agency that looks after the historical records of the Federal Government should be accorded a status that is commensurate with its important responsibilities.” Earlier in 1984, when the National Archives Act was being discussed, Senate Report 98-373 cautioned that if the Archivist was appointed “arbitrarily, or motivated by political considerations, the historical records could be impoverished even distorted.”

P. L. 98-497 clearly states that, “The Archivist shall be appointed without regard to political affiliations and solely on the basis of the professional qualifications required to perform the duties and responsibilities of the office of Archivist.” In 1984, House Report 98-707 noted, “The committee expects that will be achieved through consultation with recognized organizations of archivists and historians.” The law also states that when the Archivist is replaced, the President “shall communicate the reasons for such removal to each House of Congress.” President Bush has not given a reason for the change, and there is no evidence to suggest that it is being made because of John Carlin’s resignation.

<snip>

THIS CANNOT STAND.

[gratuitous]

9. No, AP, what's curious is that it took you clowns four years!

Make no mistake, I'm glad they're finally getting around to practicing some basic journalism. But there are tens of thousands of people who might be alive today if they'd done their jobs four years ago when Bush was stonewalling his record.

Dimbulbs. Outfoxed by the likes of George W. Stupidhead.

[BadGimp]

14. I'll bet a ham sandwich..

..that the microfilm is destroyed, alterted of missing.

Any takers?

[tlcandie]

17. Missing will be my guess or deteriorated beyond recognition...

:bounce:

[calimary]

20. Guys - here's how to say THANK YOU and KEEP IT COMING - to the AP:

Contact info:

Kathleen Carroll, Senior VP, Managing Editor
The Associated Press
50 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020

(212) 621 - 1500

[e-mail]

[Rebellious Republican]

23. Thanks for the link CM, sent my email of approval! N/T

[calimary]

24. You're welcome! This came up yesterday, too.

Check this discussion. Some background on this, at least from what I checked out, in post #51.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x639139#640067

[goforit]

25. To think "these tough thugs" are scared of a little itty bitty truth like

Bush's stinking non-existent military record.