In a letter to Judicial Watch, the inspector general's office said: "Concerning our allegations of violations of Uniform Code of Military Justice, we have the responsibility to ... 'report suspected or alleged violations.' We have informed the secretary of the Navy of the allegations."

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman, who has challenged the authenticity of his signature on one of Kerry's war decorations, told Fox that Navy records needed to be "thoroughly researched and the facts established."

Most of the questions about Kerry's combat record appear to be based on processing errors, Navy sources told the news network.

However, even if the errors were based on inadvertent mistakes, any corrections would force the top Democrat to acknowledge that citations touting his heroism that have been posted to his Web site for months were false - a development that could have devastating political consequences.

"Even if it was the Navy's fault," one source following the story told NewsMax, "surely Senator Kerry knew the citations were wrong. Why did it take a formal Navy probe for him to correct records he had to know were fraudulent?"

Kerry received five medals during his four months in combat in Vietnam, including a Silver Star with a "Combat V" designation. A Navy source confirmed last week, however, that in the entire history of the Navy, no Silver Star has ever been awarded with "Combat V."

Kerry campaign spokesman Michael Meehan suggested that the Navy probe was a waste of time and money.

"The facts are clear, the Navy awarded John Kerry the Silver Star, a Bronze Star with a Combat V and three Purple Hearts. It is waste of taxpayers' dollars and the Pentagon's time, especially during wartime, to investigate a 35-year-old Navy clerical error," Meehan said in statement.

But Meehan's boss disagreed, at least when it came to the case of Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jeremy Boorda.

In 1996, Adm. Boorda committed suicide after he was accused of wearing medals he hadn't earned.

At the time, Sen. Kerry told the Boston Herald that the error was "sufficient to question his leadership position."

"If you wind up being less than what you're pretending to be, there is a major confrontation with value, self-esteem and your sense of how others view you," Kerry told the Boston Globe.

Editor's note: