My two cents. Chain of custody: Burkett (forger)-DNC-Kerry-CBS.
The DNC and Kerry were doubtful of the authenticity, but had to dump them because the SBV's were killing them and they needed to fight back. Probably would have liked to have saved them until late October, but had to dump them pronto.
CBS was a willing accomplice in the fraud.
This was a pure Hail Mary attempt by the K/E Campaign & DNC -- with CBS acting as the eager accomplice. I would guess these documents have existed for a while, but they were never desperate enough to attempt to use them. CBS was blindsided at the speed the docs were identified as forgeries. They thought they had a few weeks while the "content" damage was done...
I would say we're in agreement... I also posted this in another thread yesterday:
CBS's only viable option is to claim they have been victim of a hoax. Despite their best attempts to get at the facts, they were duped. They'll blame Burkett & low level Texas Dems (avoiding any connection to the DNC & K/E campaign). They'll be as angry as the rest of us for this heinous act of fraud.
They're running out of time for the "Big Hoax" defense, though....
In the short run, they succeeded. No one in the media is talking about the SwiftVets' charges any more - a net positive for Kerry at the minimal cost of putting Dan Rather on the hot seat for a while.
This was Ketchup Boy's October Surprise. But they panicked over the Swifties and Bush's convention bounce. And BTW: I think the unimpeachable source is Dan's daughter, a known Texas RAT operative.
Kinkos Tapes and Criminal Statutes [Kinko's security tapes preserved for possible legal action]