BURKETT MET WITH LOCKHART - UPDATED

National Review ^ | Sept. 20, 2004 | jim geraghty

[Paul Atreides]

CBSnooze: the "news" organization that wouldn't speak to people considered "too pro-Bush," but, couldn't get enough of what Burkett had to say.

[Howlin]

Burkett told USA TODAY that he had agreed to turn over the documents to CBS if the network would help arrange a conversation with the Kerry campaign.

"Annette, can you dig it? I knew that you could."

[Gibtx]

no prisoners

[gilliam]

I hope you are all feeding the Kerry Spot, Geraghty is doing a phenomenal job. Not getting enough sleep though. Probably also needs a raise.

[Gustafm1000]

Mary Mapes (as most of you know) used to work for KIRO TV in Seattle. John Carlson of KVI radio was saying on his show that she was a leftwing nutjob when he worked for her at KIRO. Someone at National Review, Fox, etc. needs to get Carlson on to tell this story.

The media act like this is an honest mistake from CBS. This is not - this is a conspiracy between Mapes (maybe Rather), Texas Dems and Kerry's campaign. Mapes needs to be exposed... Anyone who knows anyone at National Review or Fox needs to talk to Carlson IMHO...

[dagoofyfoot]

"Rathergate" is just beginning!

[billorites]

Amateurs and fools.

[dead]

Lockhart said he phoned Burkett at the number provided by CBS. Lockhart also said that subject of the documents never came up in his conversation with Burkett. Lockhart said the conversation lasted just a few minutes. "It's possible that the producer said they had documents," before his conversation with Burkett, he said. At the end of the conversation, Lockhart said he thanked Burkett for his interest and there was no further contact with him. Asked why he called Burkett, Lockhart said he talks to "a lot of people."

Lockhart knows his phone records would prove contact with Burkett before the show aired.

This is nothing more than that bug-eyed freak's lame cover story for those calls.

[TennTuxedo]

Who is Dan Rather covering up for? Where did the documents originate? You can bet that there will be an investigation into this. If this goes all of the way to the top of the Kerry campaign as this suggests, theres no way that John Kerry did not know what was going on at all levels of this deceit.

[Freepdonia]

unconditional surrender

[af_vet_1981]

"The fact that CBS News would coordinate with the most senior levels of Sen. Kerry's campaign to attack the President is a stunning and deeply troubling revelation," said Dan Bartlett, White House communications director.

Watergate II

The rest of the media must expose the criminal conspiracy on behalf of the Democrat party or risk freedom of the press.

[Socratic]

I posted this on another thread, but I think it bears repeating:

"I don't know what thread it is on, but someone posted 6 or 7 links to a Yahoo group, and there, in one of the messages, he stated that he wanted a position in the new Kerry administration. He was putting himself forward for Political Patronage."

Could someone document this, so I'm sure I remembered it correctly? It answers more as to Burkett's motivation than just "Bush hatred."

[counterpunch]

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 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?

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 "paydirt" 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 recieved 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.

This would mean that the Kerry campaign -- which Barnes is co-chair of -- got the documents first, then CBS recieved them a few days later.

[hansel]

They leave out Max Clelland in all of this. We can't forget about him. And who faxed the memos from Texas? Do we know for sure if it was Burkett? Does Kinkos have surveillance cameras?

[Biblebelter]

There are nothing but liars here. Burkett, CBS, and the DNC are engaged in diversionary lying. I doubt if much if anything is true except that they had some conservations. They are covering up the bigger truth which is all were engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow a sitting President with criminally forged documents. Any truth other than that may never be known unless some emails show up. You can hardly reconstruct the truth with conversations among a pack of professional liars.

[FairOpinion]

Sounds like a smoking gun, and we are just at the tip of the iceberg!

[sissyjane]

I can't believe that this is all coming out..

I hope something can be done to these people. I'm no lawyer, but I hope an arrest or more is in the wind.

[lepton]

bookmark bump

[Tarpon]

It would be in Kerry's best interest to through the culprit off the train. But it ain't gonna happen, luckily.