Posted on 09/20/2004 1:14:01 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Includes comments from Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie
(CNSNews.com) - The White House Monday said "serious" questions still remain about who is the original source of questionable documents aired by CBS on a "60 Minutes II" program about President Bush's National Guard service.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the timing of the attacks on the president makes it "clear that there has been an orchestrated effort by Democrats" in the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry "to try to tear down the president and use old recycled attacks."
"CBS is now publicly acknowledging that the documents they received were likely forged and that they came from a discredited source. This raises a number of serious questions, and those questions need to be looked into fully, and we hope that that is what will happen," McClellan said.
McClellan said Bill Burkett, a former Texas Guard official whom CBS said "deliberately misled" the network about the source of the documents, has a history of lying and extensive involvement and contacts within the Democratic Party.
"In fact, [Burkett] is not an unimpeachable source. He is someone who has been discredited in the past for telling things that simply were not true, someone who has had a lot of contacts and involvement with the Democrats," McClellan said.
McClellan added that the questions regarding Bush's military service which were raised in the "likely forged" documents have been "asked and answered in the previous campaign and in this campaign."
"It's been documented that the president fulfilled his obligations ... and that's why he was honorably discharged," McClellan said.
The Republican National Committee issued a similar statement, calling for an investigation into exactly who was involved in the attack on the president.
"We accept CBS's apology for a breech of the journalistic standards that provide the American people confidence in news organizations, but some disturbing questions remain unanswered," said RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie in a statement.
"CBS has now answered questions about the authenticity of the documents but questions remain surrounding who created the documents, who provided them to CBS and if Senator Kerry's supporters, Party committee, or campaign played any role,' Gillespie continued.
"Did Bill Burkett, Democrat activist and Kerry campaign supporter, who passed information to the DNC, work with Kerry campaign surrogate Max Cleland? Did Bill Burkett's talks with 'senior' Kerry campaign officials include discussions of the now discredited documents?" Gillespie asked.
"Was the launch of the Democrat National Committee's Operation Fortunate Son designed with knowledge of the faked forged memos? Terry McAuliffe said yesterday that no one at the DNC or Kerry campaign, 'had anything to do with the preparations of the documents,' but what about the distribution or dissemination?" he asked.
"In an effort to regain the trust of the American people CBS should not only investigate the process that led to the use of these documents but they should identify immediately those engaged in possible criminal activity who attempted to use a news organization to affect the outcome of a Presidential election in its closing days," Gillespie concluded.
Byron York: The Facts about Bush and the National Guard - The Democratic charges fall apart.***EDITOR'S NOTE: The still-escalating fight over the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and their criticisms of John Kerry's Vietnam War record has led to new Democratic attacks on George W. Bush and his service in the Texas Air National Guard. "George Bush used his father to get into the National Guard, was grounded and then went missing," says an ad produced by MoveOn.org's political action committee.
Democrats made similar attacks earlier this year. In April, Kerry referred to Bush as a president who "can't even answer whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard," and who "has yet to explain to America whether or not, and tell the truth, about whether he showed up for duty." In February, Kerry said he wanted answers about Bush's service in Alabama, saying "Just because you get an honorable discharge does not, in fact, answer that question."
Lost amid all the charges are the facts about Bush's time in the Guard. When did he serve? What did he do? Did he fulfill his responsibilities? Was he in Alabama? In the March 8, 2004, issue of National Review, Byron York investigated and found the answers. …..***
Who is DUPEthroat?
"Who is DUPEthroat?"
Or DeepFont?
"He's very bright; he's not a hayseed," said Royse Kerr, chairman of the Taylor County Democratic Club, which last spring invited Burkett to speak to the members about the "state of politics in America." ...***Source
The answer is so obvious - three letters say it all:
DNC
Hunter Thompson once said that Nixon's idea of a good joke was a paraplegic who couldn't reach high enough to vote Democratic. But Max Cleland just made himself the joke and ensured many folks won’t be reaching for that demo-lever on 11/2. The post-op on this will be fascinating. It’s going to look a lot like an old “Fugitive” rerun. Who was that one armed man?
Truth BUMP
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