Memogate: Did Burkett Tip His Hand?

HobbsOnline ^ | September 16, 2004 | Bill Hobbs

[tdadams]

Memogate: Did Burkett Tip His Hand?

Retired Texas National Guard officer Bill Burkett, a long-time Bush-hater who has been named by several news outlets as a possible source for the forged documents in the CBS memogate scandal, wrote the following on August 13, 2004, for Democrats.com, before the memos surfaced:

I have found no documentation from LTC Killian's hand or staff that indicate that this unit was involved in any complicit way to either cover for the failures of 1LT Bush, or to provide him pay or certification for training not completed.

So, if Burkett found no such documentation - did he forge it? And did he then sell CBS a bill of goods, convincing them that the memos were authentic and "accurately reflected" that for which there actually is no authentic documentation? [Hat tip: Mike Hollihan]

Here's a story from today's Washington Post reporting that the forged documents were faxed from a Kinko's in Abilene, Texas, which is the closest Kinko's to Burkett's home 21 miles away in Baird, Texas.

I'll bring you more links later regarding Burkett.

[Huck]

either cover for the failures of 1LT Bush

Would Burkett get the format of Bush's rank right on democrats.com, but wrong on the forgeries?

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

This is hugh! And series! Great find, and great post

[woodb01]

Burkett is the FALL guy, it's someone MUCH closer to the Kerry camp than this guy. There's NO WAY Rather would have said it was an "unimpeachable source" for this kook. Nor would he have worked so hard to try to dodge this.

No, he may be the "sacrificial goat" they offer up, but he's NOT the one who did this. It's likely 'Ol Terry boy, or Carville, or Rather's own daughter.

The REAL perpetrator is someone that Rather and dnCBS would LITERALLY put their careers and the entire dnCBS news organization in jeopardy of collapsing for.

No, Bill Burkett is NOT the man... And you can bet, if it turns out they name him, he'll either take the money and run and "admit it" or he'll deny it and note they're trying to make him the fall guy. But he is NOT the source of those documents.

Burkett is the FALL guy, it's someone MUCH closer to the Kerry camp than this guy. There's NO WAY Rather would have said it was an "unimpeachable source" for this kook. Nor would he have worked so hard to try to dodge this.

No, he may be the "sacrificial goat" they offer up, but he's NOT the one who did this. It's likely 'Ol Terry boy, or Carville, or Rather's own daughter.

The REAL perpetrator is someone that Rather and dnCBS would LITERALLY put their careers and the entire dnCBS news organization in jeopardy of collapsing for.

No, Bill Burkett is NOT the man... And you can bet, if it turns out they name him, he'll either take the money and run and "admit it" or he'll deny it and note they're trying to make him the fall guy. But he is NOT the source of those documents.

Burkett is the FALL guy, it's someone MUCH closer to the Kerry camp than this guy. There's NO WAY Rather would have said it was an "unimpeachable source" for this kook. Nor would he have worked so hard to try to dodge this.

No, he may be the "sacrificial goat" they offer up, but he's NOT the one who did this. It's likely 'Ol Terry boy, or Carville, or Rather's own daughter.

The REAL perpetrator is someone that Rather and dnCBS would LITERALLY put their careers and the entire dnCBS news organization in jeopardy of collapsing for.

No, Bill Burkett is NOT the man... And you can bet, if it turns out they name him, he'll either take the money and run and "admit it" or he'll deny it and note they're trying to make him the fall guy. But he is NOT the source of those documents.

[Galtoid]

This guy also was hospitalized for depression, according to the WaPo this morning in Hobbs' article.

[Piquaboy]

Forgery is a felony.

[tdadams]

Read that again. It's quite damning:

I have found no documentation from LTC Killian's hand or staff that indicate that this unit was involved in any complicit way to either cover for the failures of 1LT Bush

How does that square with the CBS memos where Killian supposedly wrote that he was under pressure to "sugar coat" Bush's evaluation?

[counterpunch]

today's Washington Post reporting that the forged documents were faxed from a Kinko's in Abilene, Texas, which is the closest Kinko's to Burkett's home 21 miles away in Baird, Texas.

This is hearsay.
Don't believe it until CBS shows us the original timestamped fax.

CBS has zero credibility and nothing about this story can be believed until there is a full disclosure with real evidence from CBS.
And the source of this claim, Strong, has already lied for CBS once.

I'm very suspicious that Burkett is being offered up as a fall guy and red herring to distract from an even more sinister conspiracy that strikes at the very heart of Kerry's campaign and the DNC headquarters.

Besides, Dan Rather claimed the documents came from an "unimpeachable source".
Surely CBS would not trust a character as shady as Burkett for that, right?
Especially one who is on the record as saying he had no such documents, right?

That would be the most scandalous part of the story yet, as far as Dan Rather and CBS News is concerned. This kind of thing could end CBS's news division completely.

[mabelkitty]

Look to James Moore or Burkett's Dem operative attorney for the real source.

[sarasotarepublican]

It is critical that Burkett is link to the Kerry campaign. This would be the biggest payoff for the Republican party.

[Fenris6]

"This is hugh! And series!"

Okay, this is an inside joke I've noticed for some time.

Someone clue me in pls?

[OSHA]

He may be the originator....and still not be DNCBS's source.

[mabelkitty]

Burkett is not the unimpeachable source.

[jimbo123]

Exactly. Looks like they're trying to protect Dan Rather's daughter.

[tdadams]

It's an inside joke that I wish would die.

[Fenris6]

"CBS has zero credibility and nothing about this story can be believed until there is a full disclosure with real evidence from CBS."

Completely agree. People, there's bigger game ahead - save your rounds.

[Asclepius]

I'm beginning to have serious doubts that this guy is the forger. May we review your other theories again?

[primatreat]

10 to 01 it is Rather"s daughter!

[silverleaf]

Was Burkett even in the Air National Guard?

I thought he was in the ARMY National Guard. He writes rank like an Army officer.

[igoramus987]

Exactly. Looks like they're trying to protect Dan Rather's daughter.

Rather's daughter is the source.

[hispanarepublicana]

So, if Burkett found no such documentation - did he forge it?

[silverleaf]

Ah- but he didn't get the rank "right" on the democrat
site. He wrote the rank in Army format... 1LT. In USAF it is 1Lt

In some of the official orders this got garbled to 1st Lt -which appears to have affected (Burkett's?) forgery effort.

[gobucks]

It's a sign, not a good sign, that FR is, perhaps, descending a bit too much into Frivolity. (but maybe that is a GOOD sign in a way ... we dont take ourselves too seriesly, unlike the folks who never raise their voices on NPR, but yell with the best of them at home where no one can hear).

Bottom line, beeber, hugh, series .... all of it is just a pursuit of laughs over typos from long dead threads. My preference for laughs is some of the cartoons and graphics ...

I agree with the other poster who said he wished it would die.

[woodb01]

Was Burkett even in the Air National Guard? 
I thought he was in the ARMY National Guard. He writes rank like an Army officer.

The old ladies recent claims about the memos following the Army National Guard standard is a STAGED SETUP! They're TRYING to get people off the real scent!! THE REAL SCENT IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO, AND OPERATING IN THE KERRY CAMPAIGN, OR THE DNC ITSELF AS A KEY PLAYER. OR THE SOURCE IS RATHER'S DAUGHTER. BURKETT IS A DISTRACTION AND A POTENTIAL FALL GUY!! GET OFF THIS FAST AND FIND OUT WHO RATHER AND CBS WOULD JEOPARDIZE THE ENTIRE NETWORK FOR AS AN "UNIMPEACHABLE SOURCE"... IT AIN'T BURKETT!! THAT'S FOR CERTAIN!!!!

[counterpunch]

It wasn't him.

[randog]

It looks like Burkett was floating the idea around that Bush's TNG records were being purged by GOP operatives. Failing to find any such docs someone simply made them up based on someone's "memory". Hence the claim that "the docs may be forged but the content is correct".

There may be a lot of Burkett's stink on this but I don't think he forged the docs--too many military mistakes that a member of the TNG would never have made. Burkett came up with the idea and someone else ran with it and made sure it would be traced back to Burkett if it blew up by sending the faxes from the Kinkos that Burkett has an account at.

[meandog]

Would Burkett get the format of Bush's rank right on democrats.com, but wrong on the forgeries?

...Also the signature block that Killian used was:

Lt. Jerry B. Killian
Commander
instead of "Commanding"...

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

A few FReepers misspell "huge" as "hugh" and "serious" as "series"...so it has become an insider joke.

[Huck]

Thanks. I wouldn't have noticed that. OK, so maybe it was him! lol

[Jaidyn]

"... IT AIN'T BURKETT!! THAT'S FOR CERTAIN!!!! I said as much last night. I think Ben Barnes, Kerry's campaign manager, is behind it. He lives near Abiline, too. He also hates Bush. He's the one who's daughter called him a liar. It's posted around here somewhere.

[rod1]

Yeah I think (Burkitt is the fall guy and not the brains behind the memos. It is more likely a DNC operative who may have met with Burkett and faxed the fake docs out while travelling back to a larger city or airport. What is the geography? Is the particular Kinkos between Burkitt's house and a larger city or DFW or in the other direction?

[gobucks]

"I'm very suspicious that Burkett is being offered up as a fall guy and red herring to distract from an even more sinister conspiracy that strikes at the very heart of Kerry's campaign and the DNC headquarters."

I'm a bit suspicious overall of how this whole thing has unfolded. It's an absolute missle to the heart of the Kerry campaign in the sense its a vacuum sweeping up valuable last minutes for Kerry to use to boost polls.

Who .... really now, WHO aimed this missle? My guess: a Clintonite.

[gobucks]

Oh, btw, Rather is a Clintonite.

[randog]

It's an inside joke that I wish would die.

I'll second that. Once was funny, twice was dumb, 15,349 times just makes you look like an unoriginal idiot.

[Bob from De]

Producer Mapes, under extreme pressure from Rather,locates Burkett, and the rest is now history.

[silverleaf]

I didn't even know about the secretary's claim about Army formats.

I only know the memos "ain't" written by an Air Force officer and have seen plenty of Army formats during 10 years of joint service. Whoever dummied these memos- had army background or assistance from someone with Army background- imho.

[wizr]

ping

[counterpunch]

Get off it.
Get out of the 90s and rejoin the living.
This is 2004 and Kerry is the challenger.

You Clinton conspiracy losers bore me.

[kabar]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1217165/posts?page=1,50

[silverleaf]

I would look hard at Burkett's lawyer- a democrat activist.
One of the legal minions who descended on Palm Beach County FL for the 2000 "recount" .

Who is paying the legal bills for Burkett's lawyer?

[cyncooper]

Oh, btw, Rather is a Clintonite.

Um, the Kerry Kamp and the DNC are Clintonites, too. What's your point?

Mine is that it is clear to me that CBS (it is obvious now it is not just Rather) conspired with the DNC and the Kerry campaign to present this fraud to the American public.

[silverleaf]

Behind door number 1 for suspects-

http://www.vanosforsupremecourt.com/vanos_biography.htm

[Maria S]

"You Clinton conspiracy losers bore me."

I'm with gobucks on this one. It may bore you to death, but the "Hillary in 2008" theory/conspiracy is getting stronger all the time.

[cyncooper]

He's not so far off the mark. The Clintons and their accomplices are involved. But I agree, this is not about tripping up Kerry or undermining him. He's involved, too--in conjunction with, not the unknowing victim of.

[gobucks]

"This is 2004 and Kerry is the challenger. "

Really. Well, you must be right. Ok then. I guess Bill and Hillary have been HELPING Kerry all this time, right? They're loyal to the party, hate Bush, right?

But, honestly, I guess I'm a bit slow to see how they are helping. But I guess I'm too slow anyway to figure it out. Oh well. Thank you for bringing clarity to the matter of Kerry's "challenge".

[tdadams]

Further down on the page, Hobbs added this commentary, with which I can only vehemently agree:

The CBS Memo Forgery Scandal is a case study in journalistic malpractice followed by willful obstinance and bad PR, and will be taught in J-school for years to come. Well, honest journalism schools with honest journalism professors, anyway. Probably not by any J-school prof who thinks Fahrenheit 9/11 really is a "documentary."

[JesseJane]

Read that again. It's quite damning:
I have found no documentation from LTC Killian's hand or staff that indicate that this unit was involved in any complicit way to either cover for the failures of 1LT Bush
How does that square with the CBS memos where Killian supposedly wrote that he was under pressure to "sugar coat" Bush's evaluation

---

I've been wondering that myself.. If RNC operatives were sent to "review" or "sanitize" Bush's records, FIRST, I'd like to know how they had access to Killians garage files of personal papers.

(Maybe I'm missing something here)

But, lets pretend these "records" were part of the official file, I can see reviewing the record to prepare for questions. But SANITIZED to me means to clean up the record. Unless Sanitize means to infect the record with lies. You can't have it both ways.. Okay, so it's not that, it's that sanitizing the records means removing them and destroying them. Okay, then you just openly toss in a garbage can where anyone can see 60 PAGES OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS?? Please, no.. that doesn't work.. You can't be that stupid. You'd have to take them or shred them. But if they ARE NOT official documents, but someone's personal files, it would still seem appropriate to shred them... or put in what we used to call 'burn bags'..

So we are to believe that Bushies, sanitized the records by throwing them out after they sugarcoated them, and put them in a place where Burkett just happened to walk in and see the documents, and after he reads them, the words on the pages magically go from sugar to shit? And viola! Proof that Bush was... _____ enter accusation of choice that coincides with 527 ad.

[Unemployed Capitalist]

He's got history with Bush - it would be too easy. Possibly someone that knows the history and wants to do something about it.....Or not. This is only speculation - we need someone from Abilene with info.

[silverleaf]

Oh my- this is much too nefarious!
What you're failing to consider is why the VRWC in its infinite evilness didn't simply forge 3 weekend sign-in rosters for ANG drill in Alabama between Septenber 72 and January 73.

[gobucks]

"Mine is that it is clear to me that CBS (it is obvious now it is not just Rather) conspired with the DNC and the Kerry campaign to present this fraud to the American public."

I was once asked why I hated Clinton so badly. I said "Because he likes to get caught in his mistakes. A president who likes to get caught looks weak. It invites attacks from bullies, and our enemies. And in a world with nukes, a President can't afford to enjoy getting caught."

I was viewed as being rather kookish for saying that. That was the Spring of 1992, April, when the reporters were giving a free pass to clinton after the draft letter suddenly 'surfaced' after all those months of Clinton denying it.

CBS, Rather, wanted to get caught. It is too obivious. The question is why. Who gets hurt, really hurt by this. In the end, KERRY. That's my point.