The Washington Post is reporting that Dan Rather flew to Texas this week for an on-camera interview with Bill Burkett, widely rumored to be one of Rather's sources for the forged documents. They are attempting to have the interview ready to go by "mid-week," which I suppose means the Wednesday edition of 60 Minutes II.
The Burkett connection looks stronger and stronger with each passing day. For extensive background on Burkett, go here. But here are a few points of interest.
On August 21 [more below on this date], Burkett wrote an email to a list of Texas Democrats, saying that he had recently spoken with former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland. Burkett gave the Kerry campaign information that would serve as a counterattack to the criticism over Kerry's Vietnam service. According to Burkett's email, the Kerry campaign didn't followup with him about the information. Cleland told the NYT that "It was some kind of stuff, some kind of information he wanted to get to the campaign, or something, regarding Bush's National Guard service."
The WaPo also reports: "The former Texas National Guard officer suspected of providing CBS News with possibly forged records on President Bush's military service called on Democratic activists to wage 'war' against Republican 'dirty tricks' in a series of Internet postings in which he also used phrases similar to several employed in the disputed documents.... In e-mail messages to a Yahoo discussion group for Texas Democrats over the past few months, Burkett laid out a rationale for using what he termed 'down and dirty' tactics against Bush. He said he had passed his ideas to the Democratic National Committee but that the DNC seemed 'afraid to do what I suggest.'"
Note the timeline indicators in a recent WaPo piece: "In mid-August, Mapes [CBS producer] told her bosses that she had finally tracked down a source who claimed to have access to memos written in 1972 and 1973 by the late Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, Bush's squadron commander in the Texas Air National Guard. The memos, she was told, revealed how the young pilot from a famous family had received favorable treatment, even after refusing an order to report for a physical. Rather and his producer me the source at an out-of-the-way location...." Is the mid-August date a coincidence? I suspect not.
The WaPo has also reported that Robert Strong--an ex-Guardsman interviewed by CBS and shown copies of the documents--has indicated that they bore the markings of being faxed from a Kinkos in Abilene, Texas. Burkett lives 21 miles from Abilene. Apparently Burkett has a standing account at that very location.
