CQ reader Brent Busch noticed that John Kerry made an interesting admission last night on NBC Nightly News in an interview with Tom Brokaw. Despite having claimed for months that he had released all of his military records, Kerry admitted last night that he'd lied about it (emphasis mine):

Brokaw: Someone has analyzed the President's military aptitude tests and yours, and concluded that he has a higher IQ than you do.

Kerry: That's great. More power. I don't know how they've done it, because my record is not public. So I don't know where you're getting that from.

As Brent points out, that hardly squares with Kerry's rhetoric earlier on military records. Ever since Kerry and the Democrats launched a full-scale attack on George Bush's military experience and his discharge from the National Guard, calls have come for Kerry to sign a Form 180 to completely release his own records. Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth have asked repeatedly for this release. Kerry has responded repeatedly that all of his records have been made available at his website. For instance, here's Kerry on Don Imus on September 15th:

IMUS: A Freedom of Information Act request by "The Washington Post" regarding your military records produced six pages of information, while a spokesman for the Navy Personnel Command said there were at least 100 pages of information available, but he was not authorized to release them. Why can't we see this stuff?

KERRY: We've posted my military records that they sent to me, or were posted on my Web site. You can go to my Web site, and all my -- you know, the documents are there.

IMUS: So is -- everything's available?

KERRY: To the best of my knowledge. I think some of the medical stuff may still be out there. We're trying to get it.

Kerry was also explicitly unequivocal on "Hardball" last April when discussing Bush's military records, before the Swiftvets began their public campign showing how much Kerry had deceived people about the nature of his service:

MATTHEWS: OK. You did that today, Senator. You went after, you put out a statement in your campaign, asking tough questions, documented questions—you had all the material there—about President Bush‘s — President Bush‘s participation.

KERRY: I have not—I don‘t—I haven‘t seen what went out.

MATTHEWS: What went out, it basically tracks what you did the other day on “Good Morning America.” And the question your staff put out, under your name, is, is Bush telling the truth, President Bush, when he said he had no special privileges or favoritism in jumping 150 places to get in the Air Guard in Texas?

What do you think about that? Is that something you care about? You want to know the truth?

KERRY: He ought to answer that question.

MATTHEWS: Why?

KERRY: Because I‘ve answered the questions. I released all my military records. Mr. Gillespie thought it was important enough to go travel to another state, make a big speech, demand that I release my records. I did. Everything. All of it. Including my officer fitness reports.

Now, I have received tons of e-mail on the IQ study, and quite frankly, I think IQ testing is a load of horsecrap. IQ is the study of potential, not accomplishment. At the age when we elect Presidents (50s - 60s, usually), debating intellectual potential is ridiculous on its face. If they haven't realized their potential by that time, they have no business running for dogcatcher, let alone President. IQ measurements are not terribly precise anyway, and the couple of points of difference in this study are meaningless. In polling terms, it's well within the margin of error.

However, Kerry's bristling at the question reveals the narcissism that has broken to the surface during this campaign, which explains the stupendously embarassing response he gave. After maintaining for months that he had released all of his records, he admits on a nationwide prime-time news broadcast that he lied about that all along. Kerry not only hasn't released all of his records, he knows it and he knows specifically what hasn't been released.

It's yet another lie and another dodge from the candidate who can't be trusted.

UPDATE: And we can't trust NBC, either -- as I show in this post, NBC has edited out the statement on its updated transcript. Instapundit readers may want to check out my update there ...

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