White House Spokesman Links Burkett Forgeries to Senior Level Kerry Campaign Operatives

ABC News ^ | 9/20/04

[gopwinsin04]

'There are a number of serious questions that remain unanswered and they need to be answered,' says White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

'Bill Burkett, who CBS says now was their source, is not an unimpeachable source, as CBS has claimed.'

'There are news reports of Burkett having senior level contact with the Kerry campaign. That raises questions.'

'What were those contacts and what was discussed? Who is the original source of the documents?'

'Who is responsible for forging these documents?

[faithincowboys]

Put on Nightline. They are talking about Rathergate and liberal bias and the election. So far, they being fair.

[razorbak]

CLINTON'S people [i.e. Lockhart] come on board Kerry's campaign & this all happens. I wonder...

CBS arranged for meeting with Lockhart

By Kevin Johnson, Dave Moniz and Jim Drinkard, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — CBS arranged for a confidential source to talk with Joe Lockhart, a top aide to John Kerry, after the source provided the network with the now-disputed documents about President Bush's service in the Texas National Guard.

John Kerry aide Joe Lockhart, shown here in 1998, chatted with a former Texas National Guard officer, whose number CBS provided.
AP

Lockhart, the former press secretary to President Clinton, said a producer talked to him about the 60 Minutes program a few days before it aired on Sept. 8. She gave Lockhart a telephone number and asked him to call Bill Burkett, a former Texas National Guard officer who gave CBS the documents. Lockhart couldn't recall the producer's name. But CBS said Monday night that it would examine the role of producer Mary Mapes in passing the name to Lockhart.

Burkett told USA TODAY that he had agreed to turn over the documents to CBS if the network would arrange a conversation with the Kerry campaign.

The network's effort to place Burkett in contact with a top Democratic official raises ethical questions about CBS' handling of material potentially damaging to the Republican president in the midst of an election. This "poses a real danger to the potential credibility ... of a news organization," said Aly Colón, a news ethicist at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

"At Burkett's request, we gave his (telephone) number to the campaign," said Betsy West, senior CBS News vice president.

CBS would not discuss the propriety of the network serving as a conduit between Burkett and the Kerry campaign. "It was not part of any deal" to obtain the documents, West said, declining to elaborate.

But Burkett said Monday that his contact with Lockhart was indeed part of an "understanding" with CBS. Burkett said his interest in contacting the campaign was to offer advice in responding to Republican criticisms about Kerry's Vietnam service. It had nothing to do with the documents, he said.

[NordP]

LOL