HOUSTON – The former secretary for the Texas Air National Guard colonel who supposedly authored memos critical of President Bush’s Guard service said Tuesday that the documents are fake, but that they reflect real documents that once existed.
Marian Carr Knox, who worked from 1956 to 1979 at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, said she prided herself on meticulous typing, and the memos first disclosed by CBS News last week were not her work
“These are not real,” she told The Dallas Morning News after examining copies of the disputed memos for the first time. “They’re not what I typed, and I would have typed them for him.”
Mrs. Knox, 86, who spoke with precise recollection about dates, people and events, said she is not a supporter of Mr. Bush, who she deemed “unfit for office” and “selected, not elected.”
Here is some of the evidence she cited:
- The typeface on the forged memos don’t match either of the typewriters that she used during her time at the Guard (Olympia and IBM Selectric)
- Men at that time didn’t type off-related documents. Usually she would type his memos from handwritten notes, which she would then destroy.
- The language in the forged memos did not match what Killian would have used
- The forged memo uses terms like “billets” and “administrator officer,” which reflect Army, rather than Air National Guard, terminology.
- The signature on the forged memo is on the right side of the document, rather than the left, where she would have put it.
However, Mrs. Knox went on to say “The information in here [the forged memos] was correct, but it was picked up from the real ones,” she said.
To my mind, this hardly matters. The interest of the Blogosphere on this question has not been to investigate what really happened in those years with Lt. Bush, but how has CBS News gone about this story.
Mrs. Knox’s testimony only further confirms that Rather is continuing to stand behind obviously hoaxed materials.
UPDATE: Lt. Col. Killian's son, Gary, tells Drudge: "I know Marion Carr. I remember her as a sweet lady who reminded me then of a dear aunt."
"But if Staudt had put pressure on my dad, there would have been a blow-up -- instantly. It was one of the reasons they got along so well. They had a mutual respect for one another."
