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.
FGS, "manually."
with the source of the memo now admitting he retyped the document before destroying the originals.
I'd bet my house that's a lie; who in this day and age would take the time to RETYPE it? Why not white out the names and photocopy it?
CBS and Dan Rather's name are now irretrievably linked to document forgeries. What fine legacies, and well-deserved too!
Of course it is a lie, sham and shades of Mary Mapes and Dan Blather.
Pray for W and Our Troops
I have been out this weekend; does this "story" have traction? Can you bring me up to date?
Brilliant! Did you know that Dan Aykroyd and Carrie Fisher were dating at the time. Hence her role in the film. She eventually picked Paul Simon (the singer, not the Senator) over Aykroyd, though.
u cant destroy something that dont exist
You are absolutely correct, those memos contain nothing but a record of the clear thinking that was going on both in Washington and London.
To have not re-evaluated Saddam's Iraq after 9-11 would have been gross negligence. And the fact is the only way Saddam Hussein was ever going to be gotten rid of was through military intervention.
There is no freakin' way a reporter would destroy the originals. Maybe put them in a safe deposit box, mail them to himself, give them to a trusted friend to hide, etc., but not destroy them!
Those originals would potentially net him a Pulitzer, and possibly a legacy, if this story actually brought down world leaders. No way would he burn that glory source.
I was out basically the weekend too.
The story had the usual traction here in the states with Conyers, DU and the some of the left wing liberals.
What is interesting is Moi Kerri has come forward to present this bs. His Brit lib friends probably told him to back off.
I'm sure the originals did exist.
I'm equally sure they suffered some minor 'rewording' during the 'manual reproduction' process. Thus the reason the precious originals could not be allowed to live. They would be too valuable to a reporter otherwise.
Only thing i got from the Downing Street Memos was that some dude living in England is of the opinion that Bush lied to go to war. Thousands of people have that opinion, i dont see whats so great about somebody in England writing it down on paper, or if the document is fake or not.
Ive got a Downing Street Memo that says GW Bush thinks he is Napoleon
And I've got one that says Napoleon thinks he's W.
We all know there WERE no originals, this is yet another Marxist/Fabian Fraud.
Throw this 'journalist' tool on a lie detector.
And then cut off ears, turn up the voltage, in a manner reminiscent of Genghis Khan....
(the old John F. Kerry formula...)
/ sarc
What a joke the Democrats are
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