Anatomy of a Forgery

The American Spectator ^ | 9-10-4 | Washington Prowler

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Anatomy of a Forgery

By The Prowler

Published 9/10/2004 12:09:06 AM

More than six weeks ago, an opposition research staffer for the Democratic National Committee received documents purportedly written by President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard squadron commander, the late Col. Jerry Killian. The oppo researcher claimed the source was "a retired military officer." According to a DNC staffer, the documents were seen by both senior staff members at the DNC, as well as the Kerry campaign. "More than a couple people heard about the papers," says the DNC staffer. "I've heard that they ended up with the Kerry campaign, for them to decide to how to proceed, and presumably they were handed over to 60 Minutes, which used them the other night. But I know this much. When there was discussion here, there were doubts raised about their authenticity." The concerns arose from the sourcing. "It wasn't clear that our source for the documents would have had access to them. Our person couldn't confirm from what file, from what original source they came from." The documents that CBS News used were not documents from any of Bush's personnel files from his time in the National Guard. Rather, CBS News stated that they were documents uncovered in the personnel files of Killian. That would explain why the White House or the Pentagon had never before released or even seen them. According to a Kerry campaign source, there was little gossip about the supposedly hot documents inside the office of the campaign on McPherson Square. "Those documents were not something anyone was talking about or trying to generate buzz on," says the staffer. "It wasn't like there were small groups of people talking about this as a bombshell. I think people here weren't sure what to make of it, because provenance of these documents was uncertain." A CBS producer, who initially tipped off The Prowler about the 60 Minutes story, says that despite seeking professional assurances that the documents were legitimate, there was uncertainty even among the group of producers and researchers working on the story. "The problem was we had one set of documents from Bush's file that had Killian calling Bush 'an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot.' And someone who Killian said 'performed in an outstanding manner.' Then you have these new documents and the tone and content are so different." The CBS producer said that some alarms bells went off last week when the signatures and initials of Killian on the documents in hand did not match up with other documents available on the public record, but producers chose to move ahead with the story. "This was too hot not to push. If there were doubts, those people didn't show it," says the producer, who works on a rival CBS News program. Now, the producer says, there is growing concern inside the building on 57th Street that they may have been suckered by the Kerry campaign. "There is a school of thought here that the Kerry people dumped this in our laps, figuring we'd do the heavy lifting on the story. That maybe they had doubts about these documents but hoped we'd get more information," says the producer. "If that's the case, then we're bigger fools than we already appear to be judging by all the chatter about how these documents could be forgeries." ABC News' political unit held a conference call at 7:00 p.m. Thursday evening to discuss the memo and its potential ramifications should the documents turn out to be a forgery. That meeting took place around the time that the deceased Killian's son made public statements questioning the documents' authenticity. According to one ABC News employee, some reporters believe that the Kerry campaign as well as the DNC were parties in duping CBS, but a smaller segment believe that both the DNC and the Kerry campaign were duped by Karl Rove, who would have engineered the flap to embarrass the opposition.

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[Soul Seeker]

I'm sure they'll try to tilt the blame at "mean" right-wingers and G.W., but they are going to emerge (rightfully) as the victim.

In the end it's a screaming match between the Old Media and out of Power Dems/Kerry. Beautiful.

[vbmoneyspender]

According to one ABC News employee, some reporters believe that the Kerry campaign as well as the DNC were parties in duping CBS, but a smaller segment believe that both the DNC and the Kerry campaign were duped by Karl Rove, who would have engineered the flap to embarrass the opposition.

Must be too much flouride in the crack they are smoking at ABC.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Karl Rove and his mind control ray are making Kerry look foolish again!

[mercy]

Kerry camp pushes forged documents in an attempt to slander the sitting president. It's Carl Rove's fault.

[Redcoat LI]

Ain't it alway's.

[steveo]

save later

[hope]

If Bush gets his mental health initiative passed there will be a huge payload of work for the mental health professionals studying the lefty wackjobs at the DUmp.

[happydogdesign]

[smonk]

the prowler implicates the kerry campaign directly. if true, this is a tsunami screaming across the ocean, headed for john kerry's favorite windsurfing spot.

[plushaye]

I love 'the Prowler'. It has the political lowdown on so much, and it's usually bang on. This whole document scandal is unreal. Like watching the Watergate scandal unfold in a 24 hour timeframe.

[Travis McGee]

It must have been that wascally Karl Wove.

[jwalsh07]

To: okie01
Thus, the next source of amusement will be observing how Rather and the network choose to deal with this.
Think of a frog:

Rovedidit,Rovedidit,Rovedidit....


31 posted on 09/09/2004 10:57:29 PM EDT by jwalsh07

[Strategerist]

I didn't realize there were enough hours in the day for Rove to do all of the things he is being accused of.

9:00AM Meet with Bilderburgers
9:30AM Adjust HAARP to generate more hurricanes
10:00AM Meet with Trilateral Commission
10:30AM Set up CBS with forged Killian Documents
11:00AM Consult with Bin Laden on timing of next Al Queda attack
11:30AM Build more SWIFTVET robots
12:00AM Eat lunch off the stomach of a naked virgin on a Satanic Altar

And that's just the morning!

[kidkosmic1]

I'm soooo loving this. Makes the Colts loss tonight sting a bit less (though I love Brady and the Pats!).

[Ronzo]

Now, the producer says, there is growing concern inside the building on 57th Street that they may have been suckered by the Kerry campaign. "There is a school of thought here that the Kerry people dumped this in our laps, figuring we'd do the heavy lifting on the story. That maybe they had doubts about these documents but hoped we'd get more information," says the producer. "If that's the case, then we're bigger fools than we already appear to be judging by all the chatter about how these documents could be forgeries."

Let the FINGER POINTING BEGIN!!!!

Actually, it would be fun to have these traced back to the Kerry campaign and the DNC...

[Travis McGee]

In the end it's a screaming match between the Old Media and out of Power Dems/Kerry. Beautiful.

Beautifully put.

[jwalsh07]

To: okie01
Thus, the next source of amusement will be observing how Rather and the network choose to deal with this.
Think of a frog:

Rovedidit,Rovedidit,Rovedidit....


31 posted on 09/09/2004 10:57:29 PM EDT by jwalsh07

[isthisnickcool]

Local ABC news in Houston is leading with the fake document story. Trashing CBS. The story they are telling on the local news sounds like they came to FR for the details.

They are promoting Nightline now.

[Leroy S. Mort]

The oppo researcher claimed the source was "a retired military officer."

Wesley Clark, perhaps.....

[vox humana]

I truly don't believe CBS cared about the authenticity of the documents.

Bingo! The article states that some of the CBS people thought the documents were fake, but CBS ran with the story anyway.