In his book, Fortunate Son, George W. Bush and the Making of an American President, Mr. Hatfield quotes three anonymous sources saying that Mr. Bush was arrested for cocaine possession but that Mr. Bush's father arranged for the charges to be dropped and expunged.

James Howard Hatfield, 41, was convicted of solicitation of capital murder, served five years of a 15-year sentence in a Texas prison and was paroled in 1993, records show.

Author J.H. Hatfield flatly denied in an interview that he is that man. But a parole officer in Arkansas confirmed that Mr. Hatfield the author is Mr. Hatfield the ex-convict, who is serving parole from Texas through April 2003.

Reached in New York during a book tour, Mr. Hatfield insisted that any link to the convicted man was a case of mistaken identity and that his middle name is Hathaway, not Howard.

When questioned further, Mr. Hatfield refused to give his birthday, Social Security number or any other information to distinguish him from the convicted man.

Told of Mr. Hatfield's background, an attorney for the book's publisher said the company had no knowledge of the criminal history.

"If it's true, we're going to be shocked," said David Kaye, general counsel for St. Martin's Press, after the conviction was confirmed. He declined to comment further.

Dallas court records show that in July 1988 Mr. Hatfield pleaded guilty to paying another man, Charles Ray Crawford, $5,000 to bomb the car of a manager at a financial firm for which he had recently quit working.

The bomb exploded in the parking lot of the Cotton Exchange Building in Dallas in February 1987, but the two people in the car were not injured.

Sentenced to 15 years in prison, Mr. Hatfield earned extra credit for time served and was released in April 1993. State records show that he was briefly sent to a federal penitentiary in Oklahoma to serve time for a charge related to the bombing, but details were not available.

By 1994, he was paroled to Benton County, Ark., where state officials oversaw his Texas parole under an interstate pact that requires them to annually report Mr. Hatfield's status to Texas.

The most recent report in his file confirms he is an author but does not specifically link him to the Bush book or any other works by J.H. Hatfield.

But, Eddie Cobb, the official overseeing the parole confirmed Wednesday that records show his parolee is the author of Patrick Stewart, a biography of the Star Trek actor written by Mr. Hatfield and touted in the promotional materials for his Bush biography.

Saying he could only comment on matters in the official record, Mr. Cobb would not comment on the Bush book or on whether Mr. Hatfield had requested permission to leave the state for his book tour.

He is the co-author of Patrick Stewart: An Unauthorized Biography. He is also the co-author of several reference/trivia/nitpicking guides to Star Wars, The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation and the classic Lost In Space television series.

The media doesn't mind going after Bush with a phony story written by Hatfield, but they never asked former President Bill Clinton even though there was a witness to his abuse of illegal drugs while in a position of power.

On the Fox prime-time TV show, Hannity and Colmes, Ms Flowers said Mr Clinton "used drugs around me. He smoked marijuana. As attorney general of Arkansas and later as Governor. In front of me."

"Any other drugs?" Ms Flowers was asked. "He made it very clear that if I ever wanted to do cocaine he could provide that. He also told me there were times when he did so much cocaine at parties that his head would itch. I clearly knew that Bill did cocaine."

Flowers referred to Clinton's cocaine use in her book, "Passion and Betrayal," written well before the "cocaine question" became an issue.

Jeffrey Birnbaum, chief Washington correspondent for Fortune magazine, said Mr Clinton will certainly be asked about the cocaine allegations. "There is not going to be a public appearance by him where he will not be asked about it. He should be asked about it, in all fairness to George Bush."

That isn't the case and in fact most in the media didn't mind ignoring the Clinton cocaine allegations.

Newsmax also found that:

"SHARLINE WILSON, the former Little Rock drug dealer who told a federal grand jury in 1990 that she watched as Bill Clinton used cocaine in her presence. Her testimony is sealed. But she recounted the Clinton coke shocker, which she witnessed at Little Rock's LeBistro restaurant, for the London Telegraph's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in 1994.

"'Roger the Dodger' (Clinton's brother) came back to the bar and said he needed two grams of cocaine right away. They carried out the deal near the ladies room. The Dodger then borrowed her 'tooter,' her 'one hitter' as she called it, and handed it to the governor.

"'I watched Bill Clinton lean up against a brick wall....he casually stuck my tooter up his nose. He was so messed up that night, he slid down the wall into a garbage can and just sat there like a complete idiot.'" ("The Secret Life of Bill Clinton" by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard)

SALLY PERDUE, the former Arkansas beauty queen who claims she had a four month affair with the president in 1983, has told reporters that Clinton used cocaine in her presence and that he seemed quite familiar with how the drug is used:

"He had all the equipment laid out, like a real pro," said Perdue.

L.D. BROWN, the former Clinton bodyguard and onetime head of the Arkansas Police Association, recounts his own suspicions about Clinton's cocaine use in his book: "Crossfire: Witness in the Clinton Investigation."

Brown says he was guarding Clinton at a Boca Raton hotel when the then-governor suddenly disappeared from sight:

"Bill stepped out for a few minutes, long enough for me to become concerned...I first checked the bathroom. I called his name but got no answer. Just as I was about to leave I saw his number 13's (shoes) protruding from under one of the stalls. 'Bill, are you okay?' I asked, knowing that there couldn't be another foot that big in Boca Raton. 'Yeah, yeah, L.D., these damn sinuses are killing me.' As I retreated to the bar I realized what was going on....Bill knew that with my prior experience in drug enforcement, I didn't tolerate illicit drug use -- particularly 'nose candy.'"

JANE PARKS, Roger Clinton's onetime landlady, has said that during the mid-1980s Bill Clinton was a "frequent visitor" to his little brother's expensive Vantage Point apartment, which shared a wall with Parks' office. According to the account Parks has given reporters, the Clinton brothers enjoyed partying with girls who appeared to be high school age.

"There was drug use at these gatherings....and (Parks) could clearly distinguish Bill's voice as he chatted with his brother about the quality of the marijuana they were smoking. She said she could also hear them talking about the cocaine as they passed it back and forth." ("Partners in Power" by Roger Morris)

ROGER CLINTON, the president's own half-brother, is said to have offered one of the most damning accounts of his sibling's cocaine use. A 1984 police surveillance videotape reportedly shows Roger telling one of his coke connections, "Got to get some for my brother. He's got a nose like a vacuum cleaner."

Roger himself would do time for distributing coke, as would one of his older brother's biggest campaign contributors, Danny Ray Lasater. According to L.D. Brown, then-Gov. Clinton casually dismissed the cocaine smuggling Brown had witnessed at Mena airport, saying, "That's Lasater's deal".

TERRY DON CAMP, an Arkansas prisoner who testified on behalf of fellow inmate Perry Steve Risinger in Risinger's 1996 jail break trial, put Clinton in the company of Mena cocaine smuggler Barry Seal on at least one occasion.

Camp told the court that he "saw Seal get off an airplane with Clinton and two apparent plain clothes police officers at the Magnolia Airport in the early 1980s." Rissigner, a onetime drug dealer himself, told the court that he feared for his life while in jail, "because of his knowledge of convicted drug smuggler Barry Seal's ties to President Clinton and other powerful people in Arkansas and Louisiana." (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette -- March 19, 1996)

DR. SUSAN SANTA CRUZ claims no direct knowledge of Clinton's involvement with cocaine. But in 1992, instead of releasing the then-candidate's medical records, Santa Cruz and other doctors who had treated Clinton were called upon to verbally detail Clinton's medical history for the press.

"Her listing of Mr. Clinton's history included allergies, a strained ligament in his left knee from unspecified causes and rectal bleeding from hemorrhoids in 1984. His surgical history includes a procedure to open up his sinuses in 1979 and a tonsillectomy in 1952." (Washington Times -- March 12, 1996)

Medical experts say that heavy cocaine usage often leads to sinus damage.

When asked to respond to the Clinton coke question, DICK MORRIS told Fox News that his client had a "perpetually runny nose" while Morris worked for him in Arkansas. Morris goes back with Clinton to 1977. Sharline Wilson alleges that she witnessed Clinton using cocaine in 1979 and 1980.

MONICA LEWINSKY, the sex-crazed White House intern who nearly destroyed a presidency, told Linda Tripp that Clinton "sometimes seemed to 'zone out' on her." When Tripp asked for an explanation, Monica replied, "I think he's on drugs". (New York Post -- Oct. 3, 1998)"

"We smoked Opium more times than I can count." -John Warnecke

"Al Gore and I smoked regularly as buddies. Marijuana, hash. I was his regular supplierWe smoked a lot. We smoked in his car, in his house, we smoked in his parents housewe smoked on weekends. We smoked a lot." -John Warnecke

"Al Gore told me not to tell the truth. He asked me not to tell the truth." -John Warnecke

Newsweek finally published its delayed second excerpt of its own reporter Bill Turques book, including Al Gores high times. Turque reported: "As [John] Warnecke tells it, he and Gore would gather to talk politics late into the night, fueled by Grateful Dead albums and the high-grade marijuana that Warnecke imported from the West Coast. We'd get stoned and talk about what we'd do if we were president, he says. Warnecke and two other close friends from Gore's Nashville days say Gore was an enthusiastic recreational user, smoking sometimes as often as three or four times a week: afterhours at Warnecke's house, on weekends at the Gore farm or canoeing on the Caney Fork River. Andy Schlesinger, a former Tennessean reporter who remains close to the Gores (he celebrated with them last week in New Hampshire), says that in the first few months after Gore returned from South Vietnam in 1971, he smoked with him at least a dozen times at the Warneckes'. The partying continued, according to Warnecke and a Gore friend who declined to be named, until Gore ran his first House race in 1976."

He continued: "Al Gore stoned was a mix of expansiveness, melancholy and paranoia, friends recall. These were low times, Schlesinger says. Al was upset and disgusted by Vietnam and what it was doing to America. He could also be reflective about his lot as heir apparent in a political family. Listening one evening to Gore discuss the novel The Godfather, which he touted as the true American story, Schlesinger said he couldn't help but think that the saga of a son having to take over the family business had struck an intimate chord with Gore. But young Al also worried about a drug bust sending his future up in smoke. He'd go around the room and close all the curtains and turn the lights out so no one could see, says Warnecke."

Turque also explained Gores efforts to pressure Warnecke out of talking to reporters in 1987, but he made stonewalling sound like acceptable politics as usual: "Gore's years with Bill Clinton only deepened the basic lessons Gore had already learned about political survival. If you want to govern, first you have to win. And that means stay on the attack and try to control the story."

New reports have surfaced that, if believed, would raise questions about the truth of Vice President Al Gore's statements on his use of marijuana 25 years ago.

The charges, which could reflect on the character of the candidate, also create a complex issue for The Tennessean. On one level they involve current and former newspaper employees and a web of friendships and relationships, going back 30 years.

For that reason, the newspaper is airing the issue publicly, even though its own investigation - which included contacting three dozen current and former journalists who worked with Gore - could not confirm the new allegations or definitively disprove them.

Since 1987, Gore has maintained his marijuana usage was "infrequent and rare" and ended in 1972.

However a former Tennessean reporter, who worked with Gore in 1971 and remained a good friend through 1976, now claims they smoked marijuana hundreds of times during those six years.

"More than 100. More than 200. More than I can remember. It seemed like all the time we were together we were smoking," said John C. Warnecke Jr., who worked at The Tennessean as a reporter from 1968-1971.

Gore worked at the newspaper from 1971-1974 and from 1975-1976 until he announced his candidacy for Congress - his first political race.

Warnecke also claims that he and Gore shared marijuana at least once after Gore announced his bid for Congress.

And, Warnecke claims he lied to news organizations in 1987 to protect Gore, saying then he remembered "one specific time" seeing Gore smoke marijuana.

Warnecke said Gore, who was running for president at the time, pressured him to "stonewall" on the marijuana question.

Warnecke, who later became a developer, is now living in San Francisco on disability payments for recurring depression. He said he strongly believes this country's drug laws are unfair and should be changed to decriminalize marijuana, among other things.

In response to Warnecke's new claims, The Tennessean contacted three dozen current and former staff members to see if the claims could be corroborated. Only one other person acknowledged seeing Gore smoke marijuana. None said Gore asked them to lie or shape their responses.

A handful, including the editor of The Tennessean, would not say what they did or did not see.

This controversy also highlights the effect of new Internet-based media on more traditional media. The story, which also may be included in a soon-to-be-released biography of Gore, first surfaced publicly on a Web site that advocates the reform of drug laws.

It bounced around several sites, slowly creeping into the mainstream media, and Gore addressed it yesterday on the campaign trail in Iowa.

A brief story about that issue circulated nationally by the Associated Press. It was only after the AP story that The Tennessean decided to publish the allegations.

A reporter said to Gore at a diner: "It's been reported that after you came back from Vietnam you were smoking on a daily basis."

Gore responded, "No. When I came back from Vietnam, yes, but not to that extent. ... This is something I dealt with a long time ago. It's old news."

A spokeswoman for the campaign said yesterday that there was no further comment about the issue.

Warnecke said he plans to vote for Gore and did not want to hurt his campaign.

He said his 1987 statements to The Tennessean and The New York Times weighed heavily on him, eating at his conscience. He said his therapist urged him to try to make amends.

"I owe this amend to them. And I owe it to my paper. I owe it to my readers. I owe this to apologize to them that I lied while Al was their representative. And this was not right. I was really wrong. And I should really take my lumps for this."

Warnecke said he regrets the timing of his statements coinciding with the presidential primaries. He expected the story to come out earlier in a biography written by a Newsweek reporter.

Warnecke said the story was to be included last week in excerpts from the book in Newsweek. He said when the magazine delayed the publication, he felt he should speak publicly.

Neither Newsweek nor the writer, Bill Turque, would comment about the matter.

Besides the Associated Press story, the charges have been picked up by several media outlets including The Washington Times, New York Post, Rush Limbaugh's radio show and the Drudge Report Internet site and the Internet magazine Salon.

Warnecke said in 1987 he argued with Gore, who was then a U.S. senator campaigning for president. He said Gore called him and asked him to "stonewall the press."

"There was no physical threat. But if you've ever talked with Al, he's very emphatic. And he's very forceful. He really laid it on me."

Warnecke said he made up the story of infrequent use. The two have not talked since 1987, although Warnecke has tried to contact Gore.

"I like Al. I love him like my brother," said Warnecke, 53. "I'm hurt that the drugs have come between us, and he won't communicate with me despite the fact that I write him letters and make calls to him. I'm very hurt by that."

Warnecke's former wife, who works as a photo editor at The Tennessean, would not talk about her friendship with the vice president and his wife.

But Nancy Rhoda issued this statement.

"John Warnecke has had some difficult times. I have a lot of empathy for him. And I don't want to hurt him. It was nearly 30 years ago, but I don't agree with what John has said. And no one has ever told me to keep quiet about those times. Ever."

Warnecke and Rhoda where married from 1970 to 1981.

Frank Sutherland, editor of The Tennessean and a longtime friend of the Gores, said he has not changed his comments since 1987 when he was first asked about them.

"If Al Gore wants to talk about his private life, that's fine," Sutherland said. "But I'm not going to talk about my private life. That's nobody's business."

Sutherland said he, Gore and Warnecke were good friends during the time that all three worked at the newspaper. But Sutherland would not characterize the truthfulness of Warnecke's statements

. "I can't answer that without hurting John. ... I don't want to hurt him. He's a friend."

Sutherland said he was never pressured by Gore or asked to shape his answers in any way. He said he has not spoken with Gore in about six months.

Another former journalism colleague, who would not comment on whether he saw Gore smoke marijuana, did vouch for Warnecke's honesty.

"I think he's gone through a lot. I think he may be an emotional guy. ... I think he's honest and an idealist," said Andrew Schlesinger, who was a reporter at The Tennessean in 1970-71

. Schlesinger, who later worked as a documentary maker for ABC News, said he has kept in touch with Warnecke over the decades, but has not seen him for several years.

He would not comment on any of the details of Warnecke's claims. But he answered "no" when asked if Warnecke had a history of exaggerating or if he found any of the claims to be outrageous.

Warnecke, who says he has been clean and sober for 21 years, does not advocate the use of illegal substances, but said he believes that if marijuana was decriminalized it would take illegal drug money away from criminals.

Warnecke said that before he quit, he was hooked on marijuana, alcohol and cocaine. He also admits to taking hallucinogenics in the 1960s when he says he helped manage the famous rock group The Grateful Dead.

Today, Warnecke spends his time taking care of his two children. They were left to his care when his second wife committed suicide about six years ago.

He said he suffered from depression before and after he worked at the newspaper.

Warnecke said he was willing to take a lie detector test to check the credibility to his statements. "I lied as a former reporter and I want to straighten it out.

Hatfield says he took a second look at the Bush cocaine allegations after a story in Salon reporting allegations that Bush did community service for the crime at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Houston's Third Ward.

Salon apparently reported the story after getting an anonymous email from California. Well that certainly says a lot about the integrity of Salon.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Houston's executive director, Madgelean Bush (no relation to George W. Bush), had told Salon News and others that Bush did not do community service there, and the Bush campaign likewise denied the allegation. But the Texas governor had admitted to working at Houston's Project P.U.L.L. in 1972. So the original Salon.com story found the charges were bogus and that Bush never did community service at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Houston's Third Ward. I suppose that is when Hatfields keen eye for a great work of "fiction" kicked in.

1) J.H. Hatfield claims that George W. Bush was arrested for cocaine possession in 1972, but had his record expunged with help from his family's political connections.

2) Hatfield quotes "a high-ranking advisor to Bush" who confirmed the story -- that Bush was arrested for cocaine possession in Houston in 1972, and had the record expunged by a judge who was "a fellow Republican and elected official" who helped Bush get off "with a little community service at a minority youth center instead of having to pick cotton on a Texas prison farm."

3) Hatfield quotes a former Yale classmate who told him: "George W. was arrested for possession of cocaine in 1972, but due to his father's connections, the entire record was expunged by a state judge whom the older Bush helped get elected. It was one of those 'behind closed doors in the judges' chambers' kind of thing between the old man and one of his Texas cronies who owed him a favor ... There's only a handful of us that know the truth."

4) Another source named only as "a longtime Bush friend" described the situation this way: "Say you get a D in algebra ... and now you're going to be required to repeat the class the following year, but your teacher says if you promise to be tutored during the summer by a friend of hers who's good in math, she'll change the D to a C. You spend a few hours a week during the summer vacation learning all about arithmetical operations and relationships, and then the teacher issues you a new report card, replacing the old one on file in the principal's office ... Something akin to that scenario is what happened with Bush in 1972."

5) Hatfield also says that when he asked Scott McClellan to comment on the allegation of a former Yale classmate of Bush's that the presidential hopeful was arrested for cocaine possession in 1972 and had his record expunged in exchange for community service at Project P.U.L.L., the Bush campaign spokesman said, sotto voce, "Oh, shit," followed by, "No comment."

6) "The Project P.U.L.L. year in 1972 did not fit his personality."

7) Some media reports have speculated that Bush took and failed his physical, or that he was grounded as a result of substance abuse.

I can't blame Bush for not dignifying these overtly fallacious stories that as you can have been completely fabricated and I cannot believe the media would ask such silly questions about such rumors even though as you can see the story is untrue. I thought it was the media's job to report facts and not rumors. The media reports facts to separate itself from tabloids that engage actively and willing in "yellow journalism".