Posted on 09/14/2004 7:57:30 PM PDT by Pikamax
The secretary is a forgery. Somebody check her font.
Former secretary says she didn't type memos10:14 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 14, 2004
HOUSTON The former secretary for the Texas Air National Guard colonel who supposedly authored memos critical of President Bushs Guard service said Tuesday that the documents are fake, but that they reflect real documents that once existed.
Marian Carr Knox, who worked from 1956 to 1979 at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, said she prided herself on meticulous typing, and the memos first disclosed by CBS News last week were not her work.
These are not real, she told The Dallas Morning News after examining copies of the disputed memos for the first time. Theyre not what I typed, and I would have typed them for him.
Mrs. Knox, 86, who spoke with precise recollection about dates, people and events, said she is not a supporter of Mr. Bush, who she deemed unfit for office and selected, not elected.
I remember very vividly when Bush was there and all the yak-yak that was going on about it, she said.
But, she said, telltale signs of forgery abounded in the four memos, which contained the supposed writings of her ex-boss, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who died in 1984.
She said the typeface on the documents did not match either of the two typewriters that she used during her time at the Guard. She identified those machines as a mechanical Olympia, which was replaced by an IBM Selectric in the early 1970s.
She spoke fondly of the Olympia machine, which she said had a key with the th superscript character that was the focus of much debate in the CBS memos. Experts have said that the Selectric, and mechanical typewriters such as the Olympia, could not produce proportional spacing, found in the disputed documents.
CBS officials have defended their report. They have declined to say who provided 60 Minutes with the documents, other than that it was an unimpeachable source or exactly where they came from, other than Lt. Col. Killians personal file.
The memos, if real, would show that as a pilot, Mr. Bush defied a direct order to obtain a flight physical, enjoyed the benefit of pressure from high officials to sugar coat his record, and was grounded for failing to meet military performance standards.
Mrs. Knox said she did all of Lt. Col. Killians typing, including memos for a personal cover his back file he kept in a locked drawer of his desk.
She said she did not recall typing the memos reported by CBS News, though she said they accurately reflect the viewpoints of Lt. Col. Killian and documents that would have been in the personal file. Also, she could not say whether the CBS documents corresponded memo for memo with that file.
The information in here was correct, but it was picked up from the real ones, she said.
She said that the culture of the time was that men didnt type office-related documents, and she expressed doubt that Lt. Col. Killian would have typed the memos. She said she would typically type his memos from his handwritten notes, which she would then destroy.
Mrs. Knox, who left the Guard before Lt. Col. Killian died, said she was not sure of the disposition of his personal files when he died while still serving at Ellington. But, she said, it would have been logical that a master sergeant who worked in the squadron headquarters would have destroyed any such nonofficial documents after Lt. Col. Killians death.
That man, reached Tuesday, declined to comment. I dont know anything about the matter, he said.
She also said the memos may have been constructed from memory by someone who had seen Lt. Col. Killians private file but were not transcriptions because the language and terminology did not match what he would have used.
For instance, she said, the use of the words billets and a reference to the administrative officer of Mr. Bushs squadron reflect Army terminology rather than the Air National Guard. Some news reports attribute the CBS reports to a former Army National Guard officer who has a longstanding dispute with the Guard and has previously maintained that the presidents record was sanitized.
Mrs. Knox also cited stylistic differences in the form of the notes, such as the signature on the right side of the document, rather than the left, where she would have put it.
E-mail pslover@dallasnews.com
Bing bing bing.
DNC talking points alert.
Believable Lies.
I still say she was SUPPOSED to be able to come forward and say she typed them.
Then came THE INVASION OF THE PAJAMA PEOPLE!!!!!
Then the DNC was reduced using her to try and repush the content of the story.
She is a fraud. If she had a valid statement she would have said it in any number of previous elections.
The times is just trying to provide cover and get the DNC talking points back on track.
sorry MSM no sale.
Something is troubling me. CBS says they've been working on this story for 5 years. They must have talked to Burkett back in 2000. I remember distinctly his story about the document cleansing done at Karen Hughe's direction. And yet they don't question him as to why he didn't offer the memos in 2000? Something doesn't add up here.
I wonder if that "fake but accurate" argument will hold up when the State Troopers run down Rodney, my second cousin twice removed, driving on that "fake but accurate" license he cooked up on Photoshop in the back room with his trusty Dell?
Mr. Van Os called Mr. Burkett "a man of impeccable honesty who would not permit himself to be a party to anything fake, fraudulent or phony."
He sued three officials personally in the TX Army Guard, saying that when he came home sick from Panama, they refused to tell the Military Hospital facility that he was a member of the Guard on Active Duty, and thus couldn't get treatment until it was too late and he was severly damaged. Both the trial court and the appelate court ruled that this issue related to official duties and regulations - was a military justice matter, not to be heard in the Texas court system. He's also had two nervous breakdowns. He may believe what he thinks he remembers, but it could "Rather" be that he thinks what he wishes he could remember, for the revenge motive.
Lawyers, policemen, and reporters are good for putting words in your mouth.
How interestin that the NY Times doesn't mention what was in the original Dallas News article, namely that the woman is a Bush-hater.
"Mrs. Knox, 86, who spoke with precise recollection about dates, people and events, said she is not a supporter of Mr. Bush, who she deemed unfit for office and selected, not elected.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1215941/posts
So why didn't Rather do a story, that Killian's secretary, who hates Bush claims Killian wrote memos containing derogatory info, but she has no proof? This would have been the correct assertion.
And now, this woman who hates Bush states that the memos are fraudulent, but since she hates Bush, she is trying to help out the Bush bashers, but even with all that, she has to admit the memos are fake.
BINGO. Does she even exist? We better check her out - and did she contact the paper, or did they contact her? It's important to verify that she IS who she SAYS she is - and she may never have even been the secretary...
This may be conjecture, but how hard would it be to have someone call in and play secretary so they can at least salvage the newscycle?
Ah, Ah - whose got images of the REAL Killian memo - the one which praised Bush? The initials of the Secretary should be on the typed memo, under the initials of the person dictating the memo...
Zellenn, Deb;
Zellenn's been here a whole 10 days.
Tick-tock.....
Yeah--my admonition was not really motivated by a deep concern for the lady (although I was taught to respect my elders and thank goodness she's just barely old enough for me to see her as such!!)but rather by a concern that focusing too much wrath on her could distract from what should be the real focus: CBiaS' knowingly using fake documents purported to be real.
Has anyone here ever worked for a company where his/her supervisor routinely discussed his/her job performance with the secretaries? If so, are you still working for that company?
"Come along Mrs. Knox- get back in bed you bad girl. The nurse will be in in a minute with your medicine."
If she had a valid claim the dems would have used it when he ran in 2000, for governor, or for congess.
The MSM is trying to distract from the fraud of the story and reboot the NG story, .....again.
she is lying about gossip, it is the most logical conclusion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.