BREAKING: Conned big time "CIA Witness" to White House Lying about Intel story found to be FRAUD

Capitol Hill Blue ^ | July 9, 2003 | Doug Thompson

[Doug Thompson]

Damn, I hate it when I've been had and I've been had big time.

In 1982, while I was working for Congressman Manuel Lujan of New Mexico, a man came up to a me during a gathering in Albuquerque and introduced himself as Terrance J. Wilkinson. He said he was a security consultant and gave me a business card with his name and just a Los Angeles phone number.

A few weeks later, he called my Washington office and asked to meet for lunch. He seemed to know a lot about the nuclear labs in New Mexico and said he had conducted "security profiles" for both Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs. Lujan served on the committee with oversight on both labs and he offered his services if we ever needed briefings.

We already had nuclear experts on the committee, on loan from the Department of Energy, and we never used Wilkinson for briefings but we kept in touch over the years. He said he had served in Vietnam with Army Special Force, worked for Air America, later for the FBI and as a consultant for the CIA. He said he had helped other Republican members of Congress I called some friends in other GOP offices and they said yes, they knew Terry Wilkinson.

"You can trust him, he's one of the good guys," one chief of staff told me. When I left politics and returned to journalism, Wilkinson became a willing, but always unnamed, source.

Over the last couple of years, Wilkinson served as either a primary or secondary source on a number of stories that have appeared in Capitol Hill Blue regarding intelligence activities. In early stories, I collaborated his information with at least one more source. His information usually proved accurate and, over time, I came to depend on him as a source without additional backup.

On Tuesday, we ran a story headlined "White House admits Bush wrong about Iraqi nukes." For the first time, Wilkinsson said he was willing to go on the record and told a story about being present, as a CIA contract consultant, at two briefings with Bush. He said he was retired now and was fed up and wanted to go public.

"He (Bush) said that if the current operatives working for the CIA couldn't prove the story was true, then the agency had better find some who could," Wilkinson said in our story. "He said he knew the story was true and so would the world after American troops secured the country."

After the story ran, we received a number of emails or phone calls that (1) either claimed Wilkinson was lying or (2) doubted his existence. I quickly dismissed the claims. After all, I had known this guy for 20+ years and had no doubt about his credibility. Some people wanted to talk to him, so I forwarded those requests on to him via email. He didn't answer my emails, which I found odd. I should have listened to a bell that should have been going off in my ear.

Today, a White House source I know and trust said visitor logs don't have any record of anyone named Terrance J. Wilkinson ever being present at a meeting with the President. Then a CIA source I trust said the agency had no record of a contract consultant with that name. "Nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever heard of this guy," my source said.

I tried calling Terry's phone number. I got a recorded message from a wireless phone provider saying the number was no longer in service. I tried a second phone number I had for him. Same result.

Then a friend from the Hill called.

"You've been had," she said. "I know about this guy. He's been around for years, claiming to have been in Special Forces, with the CIA, with NSA. He hasn't worked for any of them and his name is not Terrance Wilkinson."

Both of his phone numbers have Los Angeles area codes but an identity check through Know-X today revealed no record of anyone named Terrance J. Wilkinson ever having lived in LA or surrounding communities.

His email address turns out to be a blind forward to a free email service where anyone can sign up and get an email account. Because it was not one of the usual "free" services like Hotmail, Yahoo or such, I did not recognize it as one (although you'd think that someone like me would have known better).

The bottom line is that someone has been running a con on me for 20 some years and I fell for it like a little old lady in a pigeon drop scheme. I've spent the last two hours going through the database of Capitol Hill Blue stories and removing any that were based on information from Wilkinson (or whoever he is). I've also removed his name, quotes and claims from Tuesday's story about the White House and the uranium claims.

Erasing the stories doesn't erase the fact that we ran articles containing informattion that, given the source, were most likely inaccurate. And it doesn't erase the sad fact that my own arrogance allowed me to be conned.

It will be a long time (and perhaps never) before I trust someone else who comes forward and offers inside information. The next one who does had better be prepared to produce a birth certificate, a driver's license and his grandmother's maiden name.

Any news publication exists on the trust of its readers. Because I depended on a source that was not credible, I violated the trust that the readers of Capitol Hill Blue placed in me.

I was wrong. I am sorry.

© Copyright 2003 by Capitol Hill Blue

[jwalsh07]

I was wrong. I am sorry.

Nice to know there are men in the journalism profession.

[unspun]

Ohhhh the scrutiny!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

People often don't read the retraction, either. Once bad information is released, a lot of people end up believing it because they never read the correction - so they walk around with a mistaken impression.

That bugs the hell out of me.

[Hatteras]

"It will be a long time (and perhaps never) before I trust someone else who comes forward and offers inside information."

and guess what? It will be a long time (and perhaps never) before anyone trusts you too.

[arasina]

Apparently you did your checking right after posting on the FR thread (by William McKinley) and worked on the correction last night. Thank you.

I do, however, have a few more questions:

• Did you ever meet with "Wilkinsen" in person?
• Do you know what he looks like?
• Has he ever given you any other "tips" that were subsequently used in your reports?
• Why, after being hounded by Freepers for using only one "witness" in yesterday's story, did you do it again today in your retraction? ("A friend from the Hill")

[RippleFire]

bump

[Registered]

Doug, I think you need to "out" Terrance and post everything you have in the open so we can have at him. Scan his business card, post his email address, Phone numbers, his addresses and anything else you have.

If everything you say is true, then you should put a FReeper torch to him. You owe him that much. He played you a fool. Until you do this Doug, your credibility will always be questioned, no matter how well the apology reads.

[piasa]

Thank you- very interesting thread

[habs4ever]

Oh deport, you're not suggesting, no, can't be that, well...the mystery "source" could be Deepthroat 2, or a clever, cynical journalistic stalking creation horse for one said...Doug Thompson?

[CyberAnt]

I think we may find a democrat behind this whole mess - they are just desperate for something to hang on Bush. They have been waaaaaaay too vocal on saying Bush LIED.

However, I have been praying Isaiah 54:17 - No weapon formed against you shall prosper, AND EVERY TONGUE THAT RISES UP AGAINST YOU SHALL BE PROVEN FALSE!

[Registered]

"Both of his phone numbers have Los Angeles area codes"

Okay, were they unlisted? Reverse checked? This seems to easy to check out.

[AAABEST]

check this out

[Registered]

dummy, you know how to spell "too"!

[Republican Wildcat]

Admitting that you were wrong is not something that is easy for anyone...especially not this lengthy of an admission. My respect for you has greatly increased.

[Alas Babylon!]

What pisses me off is that every left wing publication (meaning most of big media) will now run with this story as fact. Japan Today is just the tip of the iceberg.

On the other hand, it will be great to shoot them down one by one as we point them to this thread and Mr. Thompson's apology on his own site. This may actually go a long way toward pulling the rug out from under all the "Bush Lied" pundits currently squawking.

[DoughtyOne]

Well Doug, you're the first person I've ever heard of this happening to. A long time associate took advantage of you, betrayed you and left you hanging high and dry.

I guess we could mention married couples with much more intimacy and trust than you two shared. I guess we could mention business partners who've experienced much more intimacy and trust than you two shared. I guess we could think up a bunch of relationships that should have had more intimacy and trust associated with them.

Sadly, trust is a fleeting thing. We are all vulnerable. Many of us find that we have been fools for decades. Welcome to the real world.

I know this won't comfort you much, since so much of your operation depends on folks being able to trust what you say is true. Those who have experienced life will understand that your current predicament goes with the territory, just like breathing, taxes and that long dirt nap.

Thank you for laying all on the table.

[Nick Danger]

The question now is, who is this guy, and where is he now?

We're all getting our guesses in, so here's mine.

This is a "Greg Packer" type. His goal in life is to see his name in the paper. He got a real good one in this time, but it's probably his last until he establishes some credibility under a new identity — which he may already have. For all we know, in addition to his "CIA consultant" identity, he may be well-known to a bunch of business reporters as a former AT&T executive.

There are a lot of crackpot Special Forces Heroes out there; that story is not all that rare. Some guy who in real life was a mess-kit repairman gets the girls by telling of his Rambo exploits, and the next thing he knows he's 40 and he's still doing it. This guy's a Secret Agent, too. Even better.

I bet we find out this guy had no particular political ax to grind, he's no Marxist conspirator, he's just some Walter Mitty with a boring job and a Secret Agent complex that got away from him one too many times.

If I win, I donate the proceeds to the "Rocket Michael Moore into Space" fund.

[Registered]

Doug, you just posted this on Reader Rant, "I intend to find out who this guy really is and nail him. I don't like being made into a fool."

If this is indeed your intention, please, allow us to assist in the effort. Post what you have, and release the hounds of hell on this imposter.

[mware]

Well I am sure that Hannity and Rush check FR for prep but just in case, I am forwarding on the article to them.

[arasina]

I proudly told millions of people that I voted for Bill Clinton, and even explained why.

Man, I've never lived that one down. I'm of course a conservative now.

Still having nightmares though, eh? Post Huge-Voting-Error-That-Ruined-The-Country Syndrome?