More trouble for CBS

ABC News:

The man cited in media reports as having allegedly pressured others in the Texas Air National Guard to help George W. Bush is speaking out, telling ABC News in an exclusive interview that he never sought special treatment for Bush. Retired Col. Walter Staudt, who was brigadier general of Bush's unit in Texas, interviewed Bush for the Guard position and retired in March 1972. He was mentioned in one of the memos allegedly written by Lt. Col. Jerry Killian as having pressured Killian to assist Bush, though Bush supposedly was not meeting Guard standards. "I never pressured anybody about George Bush because I had no reason to," Staudt told ABC News in his first interview since the documents were made public. ... "He didn't use political influence to get into the Air National Guard," Staudt said, adding, "I don't know how they would know that, because I was the one who did it and I was the one who was there and I didn't talk to any of them." ... "He was highly qualified," he said. "He passed all the scrutiny and tests he was given." Staudt said he never tried to influence Killian or other Guardsmen, and added that he never came under any pressure himself to accept Bush. "No one called me about taking George Bush into the Air National Guard," he said. "It was my decision. I swore him in. I never heard anything from anybody."

Now, Staudt could be lying but he is the best source of information on this and without strong evidence of falsehood on his part, a fair minded individual has to give him the benefit of the doubt. It will be interesting to see if CBS now makes any retraction since not only the documents, but the central premise of their story has been called into question. Note, Staudt does say in the article that he supports Bush. However, unless one is to believe that he is blindly partisan or bought off, in my opinion his support of Bush adds strength to his claims rather than detracts from them. It is fair to assume that Staudt is a patriot who cares deeply about the armed forces. If Bush was a total screw-off in the TANG it seems unlikely that Staudt would support him as commander in chief.