CONTROVERSIAL TEXAS RANCHER SAYS LOCKHART WANTED DOCUMENTS.

Drudge ^

[Revolting cat!]

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[andie74]

Somehow, Max Cleland is in this mix.

[ConservativeMan55]

Kerry's going down down down!!!!!

[terilyn]

I agree.

We should get distracted.

The one and only thing we should be focused on right now is who did the forgeries.

We all know the media is biased. We've made that point. Pajama media beats big media.

Now it's time to put the stake in the heart of the DNC and Kamp Kerry.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Wasn't seizure that dude that messed with Cleopatra?

LOL!

And what about his sidekick, Much Agony?

[Uncle Hal]

Is not faking and/or forging federal documents a felony? Lets have the Justice Dept. file charges. That way we get people under subpoena and the truth will come out.

[ConservativeMan55]

Max Cleland's schedule on August 25 in Texas needs to be fully examined. Cleland tried to deliver a letter to President Bush around 1pm in Crawford, followed immediately by a short press conference. When did he leave Texas, where did he leave from, and what did he do in the time in between?

Only days prior to Cleland's impromptu visit to Texas, he began discussions with Bill Burkett, who is now known to be CBS's source for the forged documents.

Later the same day of Cleland's Texas trip, Burkett announced in a rant to President Bush on the progressive onlinejournal that, "I know from your files that we have now reassembled, the fact that you did not fulfill your oath, taken when you were commissioned to 'obey the orders of the officers appointed over you'."

What time was this rant posted?
Did Cleland help him write it?
Who is the "we" Burkett is referring to concerning the documents being "reassembled"?
Did Cleland help Burkett forge the documents on that day?

Crawford, Texas, where Cleland was at 1pm on August 25, is only 162 miles from Baird, Bill Burkett's home.

Did Cleland make a visit there that day?

Did someone in the Kerry campaign act as a middleman in passing along the information to CBS that Burkett had these documents?

Did someone in the Kerry campaign lobby CBS to use these documents or vouch for their authenticity?

CBS claimed that these documents came from "unimpeachable sources."
Other than Burkett, who are the other sources?
Why did CBS consider Burkett "unimpeachable"?
Was the journalistic fraud perpetrated by CBS so deep and corrupt that they actually relied on the sole testimony of a documented crazy person who had already been discredited on kook conspiracy theories involving Bush?
Or is it more reasonable to assume that CBS News would not put their credibility and even their careers on the line unless there was someone like Cleland or Barnes vouching for the documents as well who CBS is now protecting?

CBS must answer the question of how they learned that Burkett now had these memos. Did the discovery of these new documents play a part in Ben Barnes decision that he was now ready to talk to 60 Minutes on air, after Mary Mapes had long been urging him to do so? Is there a connection between this sudden change of heart by Barnes just two days before CBS hit "pay dirt" with these forged documents?
Did Ben Barnes see these documents even before CBS did?

Here is some insight into the question:

Rumors about the memos had circulated in the Democratic Party and media circles for weeks; in fact, CBS had used their existence to help persuade Barnes to talk. He told Democratic friends before the "60 Minutes II" broadcast that if documents the network was hunting for were found—and were authentic—"the election is over."

But now we learn that Barnes decided to talk to CBS just a few days before CBS received the documents:

During the Republican National Convention in New York, Rather got a call from Ben Barnes, a onetime Texas lieutenant governor and veteran Democrat who has known the anchor, a former Houston TV reporter, for 30 years. Barnes said he was ready to say before the cameras that he had pulled strings to get Bush a coveted slot in the Texas Guard in 1968. Mapes had long been urging Barnes to tell his story.

On Friday, Sept. 3, the day after the convention ended, Mapes hit pay dirt. She told Howard her source had given her the documents.

If it was the documents that convinced Barnes to do the interview, and he decided to do the interview a couple days before CBS got them, then this would mean that the Kerry campaign -- which Barnes is co-chair of -- got the documents first, then CBS received them a few days later.

Why did Barnes have this sudden change of heart just before CBS recieved the documents?
The close proximity of these correlated events is almost certainly not a coincidence.

[Evilscott]

Interesting on the dates. I think Burkett had his own "handwritten notes" that he always references - and then got HELP from the Kerry camp to type them up and add the signature.

Then, wa la, he has more documents to pass on to Mapes who is trying desperately to both nail Bush (so to speak) and to get a scoop.

We all know if Burkett had these documents before, or had the ability to fabricate them and get them to Bob Ferkit or the media, HE WOULD HAVE DONE SO YEARS AGO!
Somebody working the "Fortunate Son" issue or Terry McAuliffe's "Bush AWOL" line was assigned to help Burkett launder the fakes to Mapes.

[deport]

The Star Telegram article: [requires registration]

Posted on Thu, Sep. 23, 2004

Burkett denies working for Kerry campaign

Key figure in document controversy says "CBS duped me"

By Jack Douglas Jr.

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The man at the center of a controversy over a CBS report on President Bush's military service denied Thursday that he was working in conjunction with the presidential campaign for Democrat John Kerry.

Bill Burkett, a former commander in the Texas Air National Guard and a critic of Bush's past service in the Guard, told the Star-Telegram in an interview that he still believes that memos he gave to CBS are authentic.

But he said that he had warned the television network to independently verify the reports before it aired them.

The memos, which are purportedly from a Guard commander who wrote that Bush was failing military requirements and that another commander was trying to "sugar coat" Bush's performance, are now widely believed to be forged.

The interview with the Star-Telegram is one of Burkett's first since CBS identified him as a source last week.

Burkett said Thursday that he received the documents earlier this year from an unidentified man at the Houston stock show. Later, he said, CBS approached him about disclosing reports about Bush's service in the Guard and that he "reluctantly" agreed to hand over the memos.

Burkett denied his actions were done at the behest of the Kerry campaign, although he acknowledged -- as has Kerry's campaign -- that he spoke with a staff worker about Bush.

Burkett said he thinks that CBS and anchor Dan Rather have tried to make him the "fall guy" in the dispute. He said Rather interviewed him for 3 ½ hours last week but used only portions of the tape that made Burkett look bad.

He also said that "CBS duped me" by identifying him as the source of the documents.

"Dan Rather ruined me in front of 70 million people," Burkett said.

Burkett, who said he is in poor health, said that since the controversy began he has received hate mail -- including death threats -- and that he has suffered four seizures.

He continues to run a ranch with his wife near Baird in West Texas.

[Ruth A.]

Of course, all seizures happened when he was alone. Or perhaps, there are photocopies from doctors attesting to the seizures: the originals were destroyed and the doctors are now dead.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

[Four Seizures?}

I suspect that is a forgery too!

Anybody check the fonts on his medical reports?

[Uncle Hal]

CBS thought he was a credible source. What more do you do you need?

[tubebender]

Burkett shouldn't have any trouble dubbing a fake recording of the conversation with Lockhart. Hell he could sell it to cBS...

[deport]

Lets have the Justice Dept. file charges.

---

How you do that?

[orangelobster]

"How naive are you?
The Dems would be happy to see this guy dead, though they would never admit it."

NS.. I find it grotesque when people behave with a lynch mob mentality, whether it is CBS news, the Kerry campaign Clintonistas or posters on FR. What I'm saying is this guy is obviously out of control and that someone in his amatuer hour political circle in Texas should pull him out of the line of fire and get him some medical and legal help.

[ConservativeMan55]

[Mike Darancette]

Why embrace him now?

Because he is an unimpeachable source.

[Uncle Hal]

Burkett better not go near Ft. Marcy Park.

[Evilscott]

Burkett is protecting the only thing he cares about - the man that can beat Bush: John Kerry.

Burkett hates Bush with every bone in his body, he will defend to the death the Kerry campaign.

He needs to be subpeonad by Greg Abbott.