-Caveat Lector-
Bush Family - Looking behind the Bushes
http://www.prorev.com/bush.htm
George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography
http://www.radix.net?~tarpley/bushb.htm
Pied Piper
Linda Minor wrote:
-Caveat Lector-
This story doesn't appear to be dying. It's made the rounds in Texas
newspapers, and reporters are still asking about it.
http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today/news_4.html
By Ken Herman
American-Statesman Capitol Bureau Chief
Tuesday, September 28, 1999
Former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes put in a well-placed good word to help
young George W. Bush get into the Air National Guard when thousands of
Bush's contemporaries were shipping out to Vietnam, Barnes' lawyer said
Monday.
In a statement issued on his behalf, Barnes said he made the phone call to
the head of the Texas Air National Guard at the request of the late Sidney
Adger, a Houston oilman and longtime Bush family friend.
But Barnes said nobody in the Bush family had asked him to intervene. When
Bush joined the Guard in 1968, his father was a GOP congressman from
Houston.
"Neither Congressman Bush nor any other member of the Bush family asked for
Barnes' help," the lawyer's statement said. "Barnes has no knowledge that
Governor Bush or President Bush knew of Barnes' recommendation."
The statement said Barnes "was contacted by Sid Adger and asked to recommend
George W. Bush for a pilot position with the Air National Guard."
At a Houston campaign stop on Monday, Bush said he did not know whether
Barnes had intervened on his behalf in 1968.
"I never asked for, (and) I don't believe I received, any special
treatment," said Bush, who served in the Guard, based in Houston, from 1968
to 1973.
Bush's military record became part of a federal lawsuit when former Texas
Lottery Director Lawrence Littwin alleged that Gtech, operator of the state
lottery, was behind his 1997 firing after five months on the job.
Littwin's lawsuit claims Gtech held sway over the Texas Lottery Commission
because Barnes, Gtech's former lobbyist, had knowledge about how Bush got
into the Guard. But Gtech had severed its ties with Barnes before Littwin
was hired by the Lottery Commission.
Gtech and Bush have denied any involvement in Littwin's firing.
The governor, the front-running Republican presidential candidate, continued
to defend his service as a fighter pilot in the Air National Guard.
"I can tell you what happened," he said Monday. "Nothing happened. My Guard
unit was looking for pilots, and I flew for the Guard."
"I'm proud of my service," Bush added, "and any allegation that my dad asked
for special favors is simply not true. . . . I didn't ask anybody to help
get me to the Guard, either."
A spokeswoman for the elder Bush has said that Adger was a close family
friend but that the former president knew nothing about any attempts by
Adger to get the younger Bush into the Guard.
The statement issued on Barnes' behalf said he called Brig. Gen. James Rose,
then the head of the Texas Air National Guard, and recommended Bush for a
pilot slot, which was available at the time. Rose is now deceased.
Last September, Barnes met with Midland oilman Don Evans, chairman of Bush's
re-election campaign and now finance chairman for Bush's presidential bid,
and told him about the efforts to get Bush into the Guard. The statement
issued Monday on Barnes' behalf said Bush sent Barnes "a note thanking him
for his candor in acknowledging that Barnes received no call from any member
of the Bush family."
Barnes' statement was issued Monday after a deposition that lasted more than
five hours. Attorney Charles Burton, representing Barnes, declined to say
whether the Guard question came up during the session at Barnes' downtown
Austin office. But Littwin's lawyers, in court filings, have said it was
among the main lines of questioning they wanted to pursue with Barnes.
In motions earlier this month, Barnes claimed "executive privilege"
protection against answering questions about whether he helped Bush get into
the Guard. Burton said no objections were raised to questions asked Monday
by Littwin's lawyers.
Burton said the deposition is covered by a judge's confidentiality order and
eventually could become public. "However, that order does not prevent
(Barnes) from setting the media record straight on events occurring more
than 30 years ago," the statement said.
You may contact Ken Herman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 445-1718.
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