Posted on 06/20/2005 7:55:48 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
The so called Downing Street Memo - which was presumed to be authentic when Bush administration critics began touting it last month as evidence the president committed impeachable crimes - is actually a manually recreated copy - with the source of the memo now admitting he retyped the document before destroying the originals.
British reporter Michael Smith, who broke the memo story in the London Times on May 1, revealed to the Associated Press over the weekend that he "he protected the identity of the source he had obtained the documents from by typing copies of them on plain paper and destroying the originals."
Smith's admission means there's now no independent way to determine the accuracy of the Downing Street Memo, i.e., whether he made any typos or transcription errors that could have changed the memo's meaning.
The revelation has conjured up memories of the CBS News forged document scandal last year, where anchorman Dan Rather argued that damaging records he obtained from President Bush's National Guard file were essentially accurate, even though they had been faked by his source.
While British officials hadn't disputed the authenticity of the Downing Street Memo, a senior member of the Blair government who reviewed the Downing Street Memo in light of reporter Smith's admission could say only that its contents "appeared authentic."
That official, however, requested anonymity, refusing to make an on-the-record endorsement of the memo's accuracy.
New questions about the authenticity Downing Street Memo come at a particularly awkward time for Democrats in America. Only last week, House Democrats staged a mock impeachment hearing based on the re-created document.
Former presidential candidate John Kerry announced on June 2 that he intended to confront Congress with the Downing Street Memo, believing at the time that the document's authenticity was beyond reproach.
"I think it's a stunning, unbelievably simple and understandable statement of the truth and a profoundly important document that raises stunning issues here at home," he told a reporter.
Last week, a Kerry aide said his boss was sending a letter to President Bush demanding that he answer questions about the fake memo.
Schadenfreude.
The truth behind this story is becoming Rather apparent now.
The Minneapolis Star/Tribune (aka The Red Star) has thoroughly researched this issue (in other words, have beaten it to death) and are convinced that the Downing Street memo is completely accurate.
And I believe them....each and every word.
(sarcasm off)
rah, rah!
I'm not suprised at all. How many times will these Democrats walk away with egg on their face and still never learn from it? John Kerry is an ass.
Yeah I er ah, I typed them myself and burned the originals, yeah that's the ticket, that's what I did alright!
Typed a copy and destroyed originals: Should read: Typed phony documentation furnished by ???????????????
Yeah right. WHAT ORIGINALS. By trying to make everyone BELIEVE he destroyed the originals, he assumes we will think his articles are based on facts. NICE TRY....better luck next time A-hole.
Wouldn't you love to be in charge of the President's response? You know, send a reply on plain paper, typed on a manual typewriter and tell them it's a reproduction of the President's response but we lost the original?
Fake, but accurate. . . .
I agree. HOWEVER - because the media/Left so desperately want this to be the THE smoking gun, I foresee a loooooong dely in them admitting that this is bogus.
Once again - it will be the bloggers who must work this story.
Kerry is sooooo desperate! Desperate times, desperate measures.
It's a pitiful thing to watch a grown man make a fool of himself.
I guess Smith et al knew better than to produce the "original" document--it was likely a forgery and would have been picked apart instantly. To suggest the problems might be limited to just a typo or two is certainly generous, but unlikely.
Any more, it appears that if you can't find the news you want to report, just make it up.
But we have his Word about the Document ...
Exactly - Kerry was soooo 'concerned' about this disturbing memo. What does he have to say now? What's that senaotr? I can't HHHHHEEEEEEEAAAARR yoouu.
Paging Dan Rather!
It's just too funny!
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