Last week, Lipscomb quoted a spokesman for Sen. John Warner, who was secretary of the Navy at the time, as saying his boss "has no recollection that would either confirm or challenge any representation that Senator Kerry received a less than honorable discharge."

And Kerry campaign spokesman David Wade hasn't responded to Lipscomb's inquiries on the matter.

A document on Kerry's Web site says he was honorably discharged in 1978. But his actual separation from the service was in 1972.

The Kerry document is a form cover letter in the name of the Carter administration's secretary of the Navy, W. Graham Claytor. It describes Kerry's discharge as being subsequent to the review of "a board of officers."

Notes Lipscomb: "This in it self is unusual. There is nothing about an ordinary honorable discharge action in the Navy that requires a review by a board of officers."

Because so many Navy documents from that era have subsequently been destroyed, Lipscomb said, the only evidence of the circumstances of Kerry's 1972 separation would be in national security records.

But technically they're protected - up to a point. Lipscomb said there's always the possibility that someone would leak Kerry's records.

"Remember what happened to Linda Tripp?" he reminded Malzberg. "She had a juvenile conviction that was supposed to be expunged from the records. ... But one of the Department of Defense Clinton employees proceeded to out her national security file."

Lipscomb says the jury is still out on Kerry's Navy discharge until further evidence emerges.

"I'm kind of sitting here, hanging in the breeze, trying to sort this out - waiting for somebody to talk, some document to pop," he said.

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