Posted on 09/20/2004 5:32:23 PM PDT by Dont Mention the War
Posted on Mon, Sep. 20, 2004
NEW YORK - At the behest of CBS, an adviser to John Kerry said he talked to a central figure in the controversy over President Bush's National Guard service shortly before disputed documents were released.
Joe Lockhart denied any connection between the presidential campaign and the papers. Lockhart, the second Kerry ally to confirm contact with retired Texas National Guard officer Bill Burkett, said he made the call at the suggestion of CBS producer Mary Mapes.
"He had some advice on how to deal with the Vietnam issue and the Swift boat" allegations, Lockhart said Monday, referring to GOP-fueled accusations that Kerry exaggerated his Vietnam War record. "He said these guys play tough and we have to put the Vietnam experience into context and have Kerry talk about it more."
Lockhart said he thanked Burkett for his advice after a three to four minute call.
Lockhart said he does not recall talking to Burkett about Bush's Guard records. "It's baseless to say the Kerry campaign had anything to do with this," he said.
CBS News apologized Monday for a "mistake in judgment" in its story questioning Bush's Guard service, claiming it was misled by the source of documents that several experts have dismissed as fakes.
Burkett admitted this weekend to CBS that he lied about obtaining the documents from another former National Guard member, the network said. CBS hasn't been able to conclusively tell how he got them, or even whether they're fakes or not.
Kerry ally Max Cleland, a former Georgia senator, also said he had a brief conversation last month with Burkett, who told him he had information about Bush to counter charges against Kerry's Vietnam War service. Cleland said he gave Burkett's name and phone number to the campaign's research department.
Kerry spokesman David Ginsberg said nobody in the campaign's research department followed up on Burkett's offer of information.
Lockhart said Mapes asked him the weekend before the story broke to call Burkett. "She basically said there's a guy who is being helpful on the story who wants to talk to you," Lockhart said, adding that it was common knowledge that CBS was working on a story raising questions about Bush's Guard service. Mapes told him there were some records "that might move the story forward. She didn't tell me what they said."
sounds to me that cbs did ALL the coordinating...dan rather said 'we contacted him, he didn't contact us', then mapes reaches out to the dnc and has them call burkett.
cbs is putting this all together...
Yep, the blood is in the water now, and the feeding frenzy has begun. This one is gonna get uglier by the minute.
Allah pundit.com has a long discussion which I think answers your question...
I totally take that last comment back...I checked, it's forgery. I had relied upon a different definition as to the type of documents and discounted the signature part being a felony.
But the part of the definition that stated, "to perpetuate a fraud" rings true!
Judge Napolitano today on Fox news said that if someone admitted to making the docs and if they were in Texas, they could be prosecuted under either Texas or US Statutes, 5 years in jail either way..forgery or fake is the same if it is presented or used as real. Thats why Burkett said I told CBS to authenticate them..
The forgery lies in the criminal intent involved in creating an official letterhead from a recognized government entity (in this case, the 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron). I believe one of the documents purported to order Mr. Bush to proceed as ordered for a flight physical. The trick lies in proving that the forgerer had a criminal intent in mind (so-called "mens rea").
That'd be up to a U.S. Attorney's office to attempt, but given the fact that a federal election was being tampered with, with the object of affecting the outcome of that election, one may be able to prove "mens rea".
What did Kerry know and when did he know it?
"OR...he's deliberately sabotaging the kerry candacy for a Bush win."
It's possible, but there are two reasons why I think not. First, Kerry's candidacy is already pretty much in the toilet, why bust your own career for a long shot at further tanking it. Second, if you wanted to sabotage Kerry, there would be so many more direct and certain ways to do it. Don't you think these Dem operatives already know some things about Kerry that the Swift Boat vets are about to release, and maybe other damaging stuff as well? All they would need to do is leak some of those things.
I think this episode was about more than Kerry, I think it was a try by CBS and the DNC at sabotaging the whole Republican party, including and especially Bush. If you hit Bush, you hit all Republicans, and that's what they want to do.
Also, it's possible they're trying to keep it close, so that they can use that battalion of lawyers who can tie everything up in litigation, and also so that vote fraud can do its work.
Make the Republicans look bad, that's the whole rationale from here on in.
Yeah, I realized my mistake. Thanks
Somebody might have a surveillance camera of John Kerry in a blue suit crawling out the back of a CBS truck.
Alan Colmes on Fox says no big deal. After all he talks to the Kerry campaign all the time. The blinders of the liberal press would be hilarious if it weren't so serious. They are INCAPABLE of seeing how slanted they are in their overwhelming liberal bias.
I just got this horribly scary vision of Rove standing in the middle of the War Room doing the Cabbage Patch as Lockhart's Statement was being read ROFL.
I wonder how Lockhart, Davis, Begala and Davis feel about Clinton happily loaning them to the Kerry campaign in order to sink it. What must cross their little pinheads as Clinton says, "Yeah guys, go help'em. Knock yourselves out."
BINGO!!!!
Someone who photoshops needs to replace "Mama" with "Mapes"
Keep up the good work, guys. I'm going to bed but I'm sure your guys will stay on this tonight.
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