George Bush legal counsel resigns

A senior lawyer working for United States President George W Bush's re-election campaign has resigned acknowledging that he had provided legal help to a group of Vietnam War veterans who launched a television advertisment discrediting the record of Democratic candidate John Kerry.

In a resignation letter sent to Bush yesterday, Benjamin L Ginsberg said there was nothing wrong in working for both the campaign and the outside group titled 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth', which has been running advertisement campaigns questioning Kerry's credentials as a Vietnam war hero.

The resignation of Ginsberg, who has played a key role in Bush's campaign, followed the Republican campaign team's dismissal Saturday of a volunteer on its veterans steering committee who appeared in a Swift boat veterans ad.

Ginsberg's dual role came into question on Tuesday after a media report brought to light his association with the war veterans.

Kerry's campaign managers reacted soon and termed this an evidence that President Bush is orchestrating a "smear" by the private group.

"I cannot begin to express my sadness that my legal representations have become a distraction from the critical issues at hand in this election," Ginsberg said in his letter.

Terming his association with the war veterans as entirely within the boundaries of the law, he said, "I am proud to have given legal advice to American military veterans and others who wish to add their views to the political debate."

Refusing to regret over the issue, he said his association with the group does not distract from the real
issues upon which the country should be focusing.