There were a handful of interesting moments in Bush’s Meet the Press interview, but the exchange I was most interested in was the one over Bush’s alleged service in the National Guard during Vietnam.
This was the one burgeoning scandal that Russert, apparently, couldn’t ignore. Bush’s response came as close to making news as anything from the hour-long conversation.
Russert: When allegations were made about John McCain or Wesley Clark on their military records, they opened up their entire files. Would you agree to do that?
Bush: Yeah. Listen, these files…I mean, people have been looking for these files for a long period of time, trust me, and starting in the 1994 campaign for governor. And I can assure you in the year 2000 people were looking for those files as well. Probably you were. And absolutely. I mean, I…
Russert: But would you allow pay stubs, tax records, anything to show that you were serving during that period?
President Bush: Yeah. If we still have them, but I…you know, the records are kept in Colorado, as I understand, and they scoured the records. And I’m just telling you, I did my duty, and it’s politics, you know, to kind of ascribe all kinds of motives to me. But I have been through it before. I’m used to it. What I don’t like is when people say serving in the Guard is, is, may not be a true service.
Russert: Would you authorize the release of everything to settle this?
President Bush: Yes, absolutely. We did so in 2000, by the way.
There’s so many things wrong with these statements that it’s hard to know where to start.
The fact that Bush said he would “absolutely” authorize the release of all his military records to demonstrate where he was when he was supposed to be in the National Guard seemed like a major breakthrough. Existing evidence and independent research shows a series of “gaps” in Bush’s record. On two separate occasions — once with the Alabama National Guard and the other with the Texas National Guard — Bush apparently didn’t show up for duty. The White House insists he did.
The easy way for Bush to settle the debate is to release his military records in full, which would prove definitely one way or the other. If Bush showed up, there’d be pay stubs, W2 forms, “point” summaries, etc. to bolster his claims. If not, then it would simply be Bush’s word against a fairly substantive paper trail that strongly suggests Bush didn’t complete his Guard responsibilities. With this in mind, it was exciting to hear Bush say he’d be more than happy to release his records.
Except Bush was, once again, trying to pull a fast one. He said, for example, that he already released his files “in 2000.” As an objective matter, this simply isn’t true. The files were never released. Bush was lying.
In fact, Bush’s answers suggest the public will never really learn what his records show on this matter. As the Boston Globe reported during the last campaign, “Texas military officials have put many of his records off-limits and heavily redacted many other pages.” The White House seems unprepared to allow additional scrutiny to clear the air. Indeed, as far as the president’s concerned, the relevant documents have already been released.
Bush noted that he believes the records “are kept in Colorado, as I understand, and they scoured the records.” I don’t know who Bush was referring to by saying “they” already went through the records, but it’s not true, either. As for the docs in Colorado, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service is in Denver and it maintains pay records of service members and presumably would have documentation on whether Bush had showed up for his Guard duty.
So, will DFAS pull Bush’s file — assuming the 30-year-old information still exists — and share the contents with the public? Not exactly. First, someone has to file a Freedom of Information Act request, which presumably has already been done by every reporter in Washington, and then the White House has the ability to approve the information before it’s released.
And finally there was the ridiculous line that Bush is offended “when people say serving in the Guard is, is, may not be a true service.” Can anyone name a single Bush critic that has ever said serving in the National Guard is not true service? This is intentionally misses the point. No one’s criticizing Bush for serving in the Guard; they’re criticizing him for not serving in the Guard.