WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (AFP) - US Democratic Party chairman Terry McAuliffe on Friday accused President George W. Bush of lying about his military record during the Vietnam war, saying this raised questions about Bush's integrity to act as US leader.
"It has become crystal clear that the president has lied to the American public regarding his military record," McAuliffe told a press conference about documents which indicate that Bush may have been punished for having refused to attend a medical visit in 1972.
The documents were shown by the CBS television channel on Wednesday but doubts about their authenticity have been raised by some US media. CBS has said it is sticking by its story however.
"This is not about a war that was fought 35 years ago," said the Democratic leader.
"The issue that we are talking about today goes to George Bush's credibility. George Bush has lied to the American public.
"If he lies about these issues back then, he is going to lie about the issues that people deal with every single day at home."
He added: "It is not about what happened 30 years ago, it is about character, about integrity. It is irresponsable for the president of the United States to come out and say things that are not true."
The CBS report showed typewritten memos, apparently from Bush's unit commander in the Texas Air National Guard, that suggested the future president had failed to fulfill his service requirements.
The White House said Friday it did not know if the memos were fabricated, but slammed what it called an orchestrated smear campaign by Democrats.