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

[PhiKapMom]

And always remember that RATs.com was started by the Clinton White House webmaster! Doesn't that speak volumes.

From what I was told on here last night, Wilson didn't even turn in a report! That totally flunks the smell test!

Also he is coming out right after the Clintons are in Britain? I refuse to believe in coincidence when the Clintons are anywhere near the story.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

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.

So, Thompson admits only using one source... in how many articles has he done this?

[hoosiermama]

Yes the CL and minions may be behind the attachs, but don't rule out the bigger picture.

1. Do you know who owns most of the local newspapers in the USA?

2. Who are the jounalism professors at out major universities?

3. Which graduates get the best grades and and best paying positions after leaving college?

4. Do most of us know how to contact AP and UPI? How to get a "story out"?

My point is it's the system. The Clinton and their minions know how to work an aready faulty system. You are correct we need to get involved. Even in Iran the government thinks it can control the people by blocking their source of news. Is it any different here? Who is manipulating our news? I believe someone is intentionally for their own benefit trying to undermind our country. Americans are/need to --wake up!

[PhiKapMom]

That's exactly what I would like to know! Over the last few years I have read numerous articles from CHB and Thompson that didn't pass the smell test -- would bet now he only used one source which he now claims is bogus.

[cyncooper]

Greg Thielmann is another"whistle blower" to explore.He retired in Sept from State Dept. intel.It's on the latest CHB and I believe the Guardian had a similar piece

See my link to the Guardian piece here. The article was published today.

I would definitely like to hear more about Mr. Thielmann and what his motivation may be.

Like Scott Ritter he's seemingly been out of the loop for at least several months, (retired), but purports to "know" more about available intelligence than the administration.

[mware]

I am going to give it a go. Let you know what happens.

[hoosiermama]

... "Where's Marc Rich?"

You may be on to something.

[hoosiermama]

Good luck!

[Mo1]

Doug Thompson claimed to be an impartial reporter,

I stand corrected, he did say that

BTW .. good post and I agree .. something isn't passing the smell test

[Amelia]

You knew this con 20 years and had no idea about him? Either you're lying, or are gullible beyond belief. I don't think you are that gullible.

Bears repeating.

Personally I think "Wilkerson" was an imaginary friend.

[alnick]

I stand by what I said. I see an absence of malice. I still like and respect Doug.

You're probably not aware that he's done this sort of thing before. He wrote a hit piece on GWB followed by a retraction/apology this past February.

[hoosiermama]

My take on this is DT had better find some prooof TJW or his job is gone. Probably the reason he is "taking some time off".

In Doug defense, how many spies were able to infiltrate top level positions in our government and were not only not detected but promoted? They were in positions for longer than 20 years. Let's see...there was...

This con (of him or by him) was not done without malice......TREASON!

[woodyinscc]

want us to remember that David Gergen politely, but resolutely argued it was the CIA that sent Wilson to Niger. I want us to remember how this position dovetails with the above MSNBC column."

He also asked Ann Coulter about her take on this story and after her answer, his response was(and I paraphrase)"Well you are a heck of a writer I've read your work, but come back next week and I think your answer will be different" The dims are rolling the dice with this, my money is on GWB!

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Eight years? Sabertooth, the GOP has been trying to get its message out through the mainstream press for decades. Think Uncle Walter and Vietnam.

 

I learned during Florida elections 2000 and 2002 - trying to get our message out to the people through the Florida press - that the mainstream press is in league with the DNC. It was surreal. Gannett, owner of many Fla. "hometown" papers and local TV news outlets, and AP Florida regularly printed unverified accusations (lies), and DNC opinion as 'news' while ignoring postive, verifiable records of achievement, press releases, endorsements from the right - and pulling stunts like this: Prowler Nails the DNC: AP Runs Fake McBride Poll.

Florida Freepers, after banging our collective heads against the wall re. the Florida DNC press, sent news to friends and sympathetic (non-socialist) groups in Florida over the internet - through FR, e-mails. It worked.

A poster pre-election 2002 summed up the GOP problem with the press: Tom Delay was on the radio down here in Houston last Friday. He said that the Republicans are blue in their collective faces trying to get stories like this out to the public. The Washington press corp refuses to publish one wit about such things like this story exposing Terry McAuliffe.

      “You will never get that TV show. [crowd laughter] You'll never, ever going to get the Republican TV show. The Writers Guild of America, my union, is at a minimum, 99 percent leftist liberal and, like me, socialist. [crowd laughter] And we don't know how to write it. We don't.” Lawrence O'Donnell, creator and Executive Producer of NBC's short-lived Mr. Sterling. MRC, May '03

 

~~~

 

"The press has become the greatest power within the western countries,
more powerful than the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary.
One would then ask: By what law has it been elected
and to whom is it responsible?"  -  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

 

~~~

 

"The time is long overdue to stop taking the media, as well as the U.N., so seriously."

   ~ Thomas Sowell, The media and the war, April 10, 2003  

 

 

Meanwhile, thank goodness for FR!

 

[windchime]

"Told my daughter this morning that I need one of those big blackboards on the wall to keep track of all of this!"


I'm going to run back through the thread and save pertinent info to a word doc to keep it together.

Did a Google search on Terence Wilkinson + Bill Clinton today and got this result:
http://www.calpundit.com/archives/001591.html
The topic is the same as ours (with a leftist slant) and they're checking our comments here.

The seriousness of current attacks on President Bush contradicts the thought that the Clintons want Bush to be reelected to clear the way for HRC in 2008. If they can retain this momentum in the media, she'll have the shot I think she wants in '04.

But......I have the uneasy feeling all this goes way beyond a Bush vs Clinton political war.

I've made a cute flower out of tin foil for my hat.

[hoosiermama]

You've hit the nail on the head!

So what are we going to do about it? Buy back all the local papers! "They" have been buying them for longer than 20 years!

[hoosiermama]

MY tin foil hat looks like a Hershey Kiss! SOn made it for me for CHristmas! Flag says "I (heart) mom!

[kevkrom]

"I will track this guy down." - Doug Thompson

Maybe he can join forces with O.J. Simpson to find "the real killers", too. I understand there may be a golf course or two as yet unsearched.

[PhiKapMom]

Stay in touch! I am beginning to think it goes way beyond the Clintons as well and they are the front people.

Guess I need one of those flowers as well!

[Ditto]

You realize Doug that this guy, by impersonating a federal employee has likely broken several laws. I'd get his butt tracked down and find out who he really is. He might well just be a very slick kook, but he could also be a guy who gets paid to plant disinformation. I would think it behooves you to find out which.

Just my thoughts.