AP seeks order to release Bush's military record

July 17, 2004|Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The Associated Press asked a federal judge yesterday to order the Pentagon to quickly turn over a full copy of President Bush's military service record.

The White House has released partial documentation of Bush's military service in the Texas Air National Guard but has not complied with a Freedom of Information Act request from the news service for any record archived at a state library records center in Texas, the AP said in a court filing.

Records released so far do not put to rest questions over whether Bush fulfilled his National Guard service during the Vietnam War, the AP said in papers filed in federal court in New York.

Those records came from federal clearinghouses. Texas law requires separate record keeping for state National Guard service, and those records should exist on microfilm in Austin, the AP said.

"A significant, ongoing controversy exists over the president's military service during the Vietnam War, specifically whether he performed his required service between May and October 1972," lawyers for the AP wrote.

There also are allegations that potentially embarrassing material was removed from Bush's military file in 1997, when he was running for reelection as Texas governor, the AP said.

"The public has an intense and legitimate interest in knowing the facts concerning the president's military service," the lawyers wrote.