WHITE GLOVE TREATMENT:

During last year's presidential campaign, the AP filed federal and state suits that uncovered new, long-sought military records of Bush's service.

Weeks after Texas National Guard officials swore under oath they had released everything, two retired Army lawyers searched again under an agreement between the AP and the Guard and found 31 unreleased pages. These included orders for high-altitude training in 1972, less than three months before Bush abruptly quit flying.

Defending the failure to find the documents, Guard spokesman Lt. Col. John Stanford said searching the old, disorganized boxes was tough. "These boxes are full of dirt and rat ... (excrement) and dead bugs."

The AP's general counsel, David Tomlin, said the company spent almost $100,000 litigating the case. The government was ordered to pay the AP's legal costs, but disputed the amount. The AP settled for a fraction of what it spent, Tomlin said.

(Spotted by edwardpig.)