Anatomy of a Forgery

The American Spectator ^ | 9-10-4 | Washington Prowler

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Anatomy of a Forgery

By The Prowler

Published 9/10/2004 12:09:06 AM

More than six weeks ago, an opposition research staffer for the Democratic National Committee received documents purportedly written by President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard squadron commander, the late Col. Jerry Killian. The oppo researcher claimed the source was "a retired military officer." According to a DNC staffer, the documents were seen by both senior staff members at the DNC, as well as the Kerry campaign. "More than a couple people heard about the papers," says the DNC staffer. "I've heard that they ended up with the Kerry campaign, for them to decide to how to proceed, and presumably they were handed over to 60 Minutes, which used them the other night. But I know this much. When there was discussion here, there were doubts raised about their authenticity." The concerns arose from the sourcing. "It wasn't clear that our source for the documents would have had access to them. Our person couldn't confirm from what file, from what original source they came from." The documents that CBS News used were not documents from any of Bush's personnel files from his time in the National Guard. Rather, CBS News stated that they were documents uncovered in the personnel files of Killian. That would explain why the White House or the Pentagon had never before released or even seen them. According to a Kerry campaign source, there was little gossip about the supposedly hot documents inside the office of the campaign on McPherson Square. "Those documents were not something anyone was talking about or trying to generate buzz on," says the staffer. "It wasn't like there were small groups of people talking about this as a bombshell. I think people here weren't sure what to make of it, because provenance of these documents was uncertain." A CBS producer, who initially tipped off The Prowler about the 60 Minutes story, says that despite seeking professional assurances that the documents were legitimate, there was uncertainty even among the group of producers and researchers working on the story. "The problem was we had one set of documents from Bush's file that had Killian calling Bush 'an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot.' And someone who Killian said 'performed in an outstanding manner.' Then you have these new documents and the tone and content are so different." The CBS producer said that some alarms bells went off last week when the signatures and initials of Killian on the documents in hand did not match up with other documents available on the public record, but producers chose to move ahead with the story. "This was too hot not to push. If there were doubts, those people didn't show it," says the producer, who works on a rival CBS News program. Now, the producer says, there is growing concern inside the building on 57th Street that they may have been suckered by the Kerry campaign. "There is a school of thought here that the Kerry people dumped this in our laps, figuring we'd do the heavy lifting on the story. That maybe they had doubts about these documents but hoped we'd get more information," says the producer. "If that's the case, then we're bigger fools than we already appear to be judging by all the chatter about how these documents could be forgeries." ABC News' political unit held a conference call at 7:00 p.m. Thursday evening to discuss the memo and its potential ramifications should the documents turn out to be a forgery. That meeting took place around the time that the deceased Killian's son made public statements questioning the documents' authenticity. According to one ABC News employee, some reporters believe that the Kerry campaign as well as the DNC were parties in duping CBS, but a smaller segment believe that both the DNC and the Kerry campaign were duped by Karl Rove, who would have engineered the flap to embarrass the opposition.

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[Darkwolf377]

I guess Barbara Bush DOES have magical powers...

[Mike Fieschko]

Where is that Tom Hays from the AP hiding?

powerlineblog.com has been pursuing this deceit.

I am writing to lodge an ethics complaint against Tom Hays and the Associated Press

The next story on that blog is The Crowd That Didn't Boo:

"We have an inside source who was present at the rally and is familiar with the reporters involved. Our source tells us that Tom Hays, whose byline was on the false AP report, was not at the West Allis rally. He is not one of the AP reporters assigned to cover President Bush, and is believed to have been in New York at the time."

"Our source says that the AP reporter behind the story was Scott Lindlaw. Lindlaw is one of the AP reporters who cover the Bush campaign. His anti-Bush prejudices are well-known; our source has heard him say that his "mission" is to see that Bush is not re-elected."

There's more.

[abner]

"The news" has become exposed as just an infomercial for the Amazing Democratic 6-in-1 Vegetable Chopper. And the reporters are just a bunch of Ginsu Knife salesmen.

Great analysis... That would make FR the 'Dem-O-Matic'

:-)

[Darkwolf377]

Texans for Kerry uh Truth isn't going to get the traction Swift Vets got.

Every time someone sees that lame ad, they will think it's bunk.

[Darkwolf377]

Deader than fried chicken.




Never stopped a zombie before.

[IonInsights]

...Or John Kerry

And who has a history of forging documents pertaining to military matters?

[Bonaparte]

"How do you think the 60 minutes sponsors are taking all of this or are they even aware? "

CBS sponsors are not taking this very well. They're nervous. Unhappy. Why? Because people like me have been sending them angry faxes, telling them to stick their products where the sun don't shine.

[razorback-bert]

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[Darkwolf377]

I can't believe you guys are missing it:

Kerry IS the Manchurian Candidate.

Programmed by Karl Rove, Kerry runs for the Presidency without having a resume, or a reason to end his windsurfing career. But he feels compelled, somehow, and so he goes down this road, until one day yes, yes, it's all clear now, Terayza, that Queen of Hearts card, yes....

And he takes a file of forgeries that will be traced back to him and zombie-like (even moreso than usual) brings them to Dan Rather...

Then Terayza--who never left the Republican party--phones Karl Rove. And they laugh, and laugh, and laugh...

DUmmies--if you wanna use this, you gotta credit me! ;)

[NYCVirago]

Hmm I am not sure. Something tells me they will name the Kerry campaign. Heck, they already have, look at this thread. This news is leaking from somewhere. I do not think Dan Blather is going to get on CBS news tonight and say "The Kerry campaign gave us this fake document". CBS will let it be known by leaking it to the media. Subversive!

We'll see what happens, but if this is connected to the Kerry campaign, it will be a nail in the coffin for him.

[IonInsights]

Opinions, anyone... Who is the most odious?

How about the Lieutenant himself? After all, who has a history of forging documements pertaining to military matters? Maybe he did it when he was taking a break from windsurfing.

[tophat9000]

"Dinosaurs staring up at an incoming meteor""

Shouldn't that be

"Demosaurs staring up at an incoming meteor"...

Or maybe even "Demosoreass"?

[NYCVirago]

Chris Lahane(sp?) of the Gore/Kerry teams essentially just said this not moments ago on Nightline - "You know, Tom, it's not inconceivable that the Bush campaign released [these forgeries] to make the Kerry campaign look bad."

Yeah, but the Rats trumpeted these documents as the smoking gun all day! If they're so smart, then why didn't *they* get suspicious?

[Marak]

Not only have they been using it all day, but they still are. This just in via email.

Take Action!

Help us hold President Bush accountable.

Sign our petition!

Write a letter to the editor!

Dear XXX,

Back in February, President Bush sat down in the Oval Office for an interview with Tim Russert and spoke about his service in the National Guard. Bush told us, "I put in my time, proudly so." He said, "And I'm telling you, I did my duty."

But now we know that Bush dishonored the Oval Office by lying to the American people.

New investigations from multiple media sources have revealed the truth about President Bush's service. New military documents show that Bush disobeyed a direct order from his commander to take a flight physical and "failed to perform to U.S. Air Force/Texas Air National Guard standards" -- and was grounded as a result.

New evidence supports claims that Bush missed months of service and that he never showed up for service with the Alabama National Guard.

New evidence shows that Bush received special treatment. His supervisor wrote that he felt pressured from above to "sugar coat" Bush's records.

And Ben Barnes, former Lt. Governor and State House Speaker of Texas, has come forward to say that he pulled strings to get Bush a coveted spot in the Guard, which directly contradicts Bush's claim that he received no special treatment.

Only Bush Can Answer Questions

President Bush has a lot to answer for. Only he can clear up the questions regarding the discrepancies in his service record, and he owes the American people those answers. Here are just a few of the questions Bush must answer.

• Why did George Bush say "I did my duty" when he missed months of duty in 1972, 73 and 74?
• How did George Bush avoid getting called into active service for missing months of duty in 1972, 73, and 74?
• Why did George Bush disobey a direct order to take his physical?
• What standard did George Bush fail to meet when he was grounded for failing to perform at US Air Force/Texas Air National Guard Standards?
• Why did George Bush go above his commander's head to ensure a favorable evaluation he had not earned?
• Why did George Bush say he received "no special treatment" when Ben Barnes says he pulled strings to secure a Guard slot for him?
• Who asked Bush family friend Sidney Adger to get Bush a slot in the Guard immediately after Bush graduated and at the height of the Vietnam War?
• When will George Bush produce any credible witness who can attest to his service in the Alabama Air National Guard?

Take Action

You can help us hold Bush accountable. Sign our petition to President Bush and demand that he answer the American people's questions about his Guard service.

http://www.democrats.org/action/

Make sure the pressure stays on Bush and make sure the media holds him responsible. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper about the questions you have for President Bush.

http://www.democrats.org/action/

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[ArmyBratproud]

More than six weeks ago, an opposition research staffer for the Democratic National Committee received documents purportedly written by President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard squadron commander, the late Col. Jerry Killian.

The oppo researcher claimed the source was "a retired military officer." According to a DNC staffer, the documents were seen by both senior staff members at the DNC, as well as the Kerry campaign.

"More than a couple people heard about the papers," says the DNC staffer. "I've heard that they ended up with the Kerry campaign, for them to decide to how to proceed, and presumably they were handed over to 60 Minutes, which used them the other night. But I know this much. When there was discussion here, there were doubts raised about their authenticity."

---

The DNC supplied the docs to CBS.....trying to claim that they got them from Rove shows that they know they are busted.

ROVE WOULD HAVE NEVER TAKEN A RISK LIKE THAT. IF NOBODY HAD CALLED THE DOCS INTO QUESTION.....BUSH WOULD BE HURT BY THIS.

This is enough to show that the DNC is behind this.

[NYCVirago]

Heh! The smart thing for the Rats to have done is to let the 60 Minutes report speak for itself, and let the MSM do their dirty work and smear Bush. It looks pretty stupid for Lehane to insinuate that the Bush people were behind the fake memos, when the Rats are the ones touting them all day!

[Marak]

I suspect that they are going for the hit-and-run. Blitz with the memos before they are debunked and then try to ignore the fact that they are forgeris and move on to the next 'scandal'.

[litany_of_lies]

Great point. They may have sat on Swifts because they thought they had a nuke to throw out with the docs. OOPS!

[Redcloak]

Most people frighten small children in to behaving by telling them that the Boogeyman will get them. Democrats frighten their children by telling them that Karl Rove will get them!

[ArmyBratproud]

rat on your pop....and Karl Rove will get ya