A top lawyer for President George W. Bush's re-election campaign has resigned after disclosing he provided legal advice to a group that accuses Democratic Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry of lying about his Vietnam War record.
Mr Benjamin Ginsberg was the second person to quit the Bush campaign over ties to the group, called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The Bush's campaign insists it has no relationship with the group and has denied Mr Kerry's charge the president's re-election team is using such "front groups".
"I have decided to resign as national counsel to your campaign to ensure that the giving of legal advice to decorated military veterans, which was entirely within the boundaries of the law, doesn't distract from the real issues upon which you and the country should be focusing," Mr Ginsberg wrote in a letter to Mr Bush. A copy was released by the Bush campaign today.
The fierce dispute over Mr Kerry's record in Vietnam, where he was decorated for bravery, has dominated recent campaigning in the neck-and-neck race for the November 2nd presidential election. Both candidates are trying to portray themselves as the best man to lead the United States in its war against terrorism.
Mr Ginsberg served as the Bush campaign's long-time chief outside counsel. Yesterday he disclosed that he also gave legal advice to the Swift Boat group, which has attacked Mr Kerry's record in television commercials and a book.
Federal election rules bar organisations that take unrestricted donations from coordinating their activities with campaigns or political parties. Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said: "There has been no coordination at any time."
But Kerry campaign manager Ms Mary Beth Cahill countered: "The sudden resignation of Bush's top lawyer doesn't end the extensive web of connections between George Bush and the group trying to smear John Kerry's military record. In fact, it only confirms the extent of those connections."
Stepping up his counter-attack, Mr Kerry dispatched two fellow Vietnam veterans to Mr Bush's secluded Texas ranch today to press him to condemn the Swift Boat ads.
As a Navy lieutenant commanding a gunboat in Vietnam, Mr Kerry was decorated five times for valour and sustaining combat wounds. He has shrapnel in his leg from one of those wounds.
After the Swift Boat ads, support for Mr Kerry among the country's veterans declined, according to a CBS News poll.
The Massachusetts senator has called the Swift Boat ads inaccurate and has asked the Federal Election Commission to force them to be withdrawn.
Records show the Swift Boat group received some of its funding from long-time Bush supporters. Its new commercial also features one veteran, Mr Ken Cordier, who was on a Bush campaign committee until last week, when he was forced to quit.
Mr Bush said that the Swift Boat ads should be stopped along with others run by independent groups. He said Kerry should be proud of his war service. But Bush stopped short of condemning the group or its ads.
The Bush campaign says left-leaning groups have spent $63.5 million on ads attacking Bush over the last 12 months and it has filed its own FEC complaint alleging abuse by Mr Kerry.