The White House has countered criticism of Bush's apparent hypocrisy by saying, in essence, that the Form 4 is a red herring. But their explanation has changed about why the form was not filed on time. Bush once blamed Harken lawyers for misplacing the Form 4, but another memo makes clear just how important Cummings thought the forms were. A Jan. 19, 1990, memo from Cummings to Bush notes changes in SEC laws regarding the forms. "Probably the most outstanding feature of changes in this rule will be the requirement that a disclosure be made by the company in its proxy or 10K concerning late Form 3 or 4 filings ... Please examine your records and files to be certain that this information is current concerning your beneficial ownership of Harken stock and there have been no other transactions since such date which have not been disclosed."

Bartlett has said that Bush's late filings of the Form 4s amount to a minor traffic offense -- "doing 60 in a 55." But California securities attorney Michael Aguirre, who once worked as an investigator for Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., says Bartlett's assertion is "outrageous. I didn't realize some laws were more important than others when it came to SEC filings."

Others familiar with securities law say that Bush's late filing may be more rote procedure than smoking gun. "That sounds to me more like a bureaucratic screw-up than an intentional fraud," says James Sottile, a partner with the Washington firm Baach, Robinson & Lewis and a former staff attorney in the Division of Enforcement of the SEC. "If you were really intending to commit a fraud you wouldn't have filed the Form 144. The Form 144 would tell you that an insider was selling."

But Aguirre says it looks as though Bush deliberately tried to hide his sale. Unlike other forms filed by Bush, the one filed in early 1991 was not dated, a possible indication, Aguirre says, that the decision not to file the form was a deliberate attempt to mask Bush's insider trade.

The White House counters the argument by pointing out that Bush notified the SEC of his intent to sell -- by filling out a form known as Form 144 -- back in June 1990. But Aguirre says Form 144 is not an actual notice of intent to sell, it's simply a way of keeping someone's options open. Aguirre says market watchers looking for clues on insider actions will look at the Form 4, which must be filed not more than 30 days after an insider trade, not the 144.

But Sottile, for one, doesn't believe Bush intentionally misled the SEC. "I'm a Democrat, and not particularly a George Bush fan, but this one seems to be a stretch. You'd have to be a real conspiracy theorist to conclude that someone is committing a fraud, not by failing to file a form, but by filing it late," says Sottile. "What's the idea, that he was hoping to avoid notice by filing it late after he already filed the form saying he was going to sell? The filing of the 144 leads me to believe there can't be any evil intent on the late filing of the Form 4. Just doesn't make sense to me."

When asked why the form was undated, Bartlett said he did not know.

But the missing date was an aberration for Bush. The Form 144 filed by Bush on June 22 was dated alongside his signature. Similarly, a Form 3 filed on April 13, 1987, was dated properly, as was a Form 4 filed on April 2, 1987, as was a Form 4 received by the SEC on Oct. 6, 1989, announcing Bush's decision to exercise 25,000 options.

Bush has also changed his story about why he sold the stock. In 1994, Bush told the Dallas Morning news he "needed to liquefy" his Harken stock in order to pay off a loan he got to invest in the Texas Rangers. By the time the presidential campaign rolled around, he had changed his story, telling the Washington Post, "I didn't need to pay it off ... I did it because I just don't like to carry debt."

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