The Bush-Cheney campaign sent letters to television stations on 23 August 2004, calling a Kerry campaign advertisement false and libelous. The ad accused the Bush team of illegally coordinating with Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a veterans group running spots that attacked Kerry's Vietnam War record.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is a 527 organization legally barred from coordinating with any campaign. Its ads claimed Kerry had misrepresented how he earned military decorations and had betrayed fellow service members by opposing the war after returning home.
Kerry's campaign responded with its own ad demanding Bush disavow the attacks. Senator John Edwards, Kerry's running mate, said the attacks were "tied directly to President Bush." A Bush campaign volunteer, retired colonel Ken Cordier, resigned after it emerged he had appeared in one of the Swift Boat spots.
Kerry's team filed a Federal Election Commission complaint alleging illegal coordination, which the Bush campaign denied. An Annenberg Public Policy Center study found 57 percent of Americans aware of the ads, while a CBS News poll showed Bush leading Kerry among veterans 55 to 37.
Not all Republicans embraced the controversy. Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas said veterans he had spoken with wanted the dispute set aside in favor of health care and national security.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.