After a long wait, McCain medical records release is quiet, limited

Updated below.

So what happened here? John McCain’s medical records disclosure, which originally was scheduled to be a fairly major press event in which three of McCain’s doctors and a large group of reporters were to meet in person, with many other journos joining via teleconference — see this April backgrounder from Dan Nowicki of the Arizona Republic — turned out to be a quiet affair staged yesterday. Only an unspecified handful of Associated Press staffers were allowed to peruse the 1,173 pages of records, spanning the years 2000 – 2008.

The AP’s two-thumbs-up summary report is here. 

Update: CNN reports that there will be an additional press confab today, with some very odd conditions applied:

The newer batch of records has strict security guidelines attached. Only certain news networks and newspapers will be permitted to enter the room, and they will have only three hours to examine the papers.

No cell phones or Internet access will be allowed in the room, located in a resort outside Phoenix, Arizona. Copying the records is also prohibited. Anyone who leaves the room for any reason except the bathroom will not be allowed back.

No phone calls, no copying, no internet access. Bizarre.

The records being offered for inspection pertain only to McCain’s physical health. As Mark Benjamin wrote yesterday at Salon, McCain’s 1999 records release included records regarding his mental state as a former POW, which had been the subject of Bush/Rove whispering campaigns in the early stages of the 2000 race.

Previously: “McCain’s medical records release, put off twice, won’t really be a ‘release’ “