Lucy, you got some ‘splainin’ to do
This one probably has a shelf life of under 24 hours, but for the moment Bill Burkett says here’s how he got the documents, from USA Today:
In earlier conversations with USA TODAY, Burkett had identified the source of the documents as George Conn, a former Texas National Guard colleague who works for the U.S. Army in Europe. Burkett now says he made up the story about Conn’s involvement to divert attention from himself and the woman he now says provided him with the documents. He told USA TODAY that he also lied to CBS.
Burkett now maintains that the source of the papers was Lucy Ramirez, who he says phoned him from Houston in March to offer the documents. USA TODAY has been unable to locate Ramirez.Burkett said Ramirez told him she had seen him the previous month in an appearance on the MSNBC program Hardball, discussing the controversy over whether Bush fulfilled all his obligations for service in the Texas Air Guard during the early 1970s. “There is something I have that I want to make sure gets out,” he quoted her as saying.
He said Ramirez claimed to possess Killian’s “correspondence file,” which would prove Burkett’s allegations that Bush had problems as a Guard fighter pilot….
Burkett said he arranged to get the documents during a trip to Houston for a livestock show in March. But instead of being met at the show by Ramirez, he was approached by a man who asked for Burkett, handed him an envelope and quickly left, Burkett recounted. “I didn’t even ask any questions,” Burkett said. “Should I have? Yes. Maybe I was duped. I never really even considered that.”
By Monday, USA TODAY had not been able to locate Ramirez or verify other details of Burkett’s account. Three people who worked with Killian in the early 1970s said they don’t recognize her name. Burkett promised to provide telephone records that would verify his calls to Ramirez, but he had not done so by Monday night.
Witness Reliability
As Burkett told his story, he appeared overwrought, fatigued and unsure of how to deal with what he characterized as the extreme pressure of national attention. He spoke of being under a severe strain.
At one point Thursday, as he spoke on a cell phone to his San Antonio lawyer, David Van Os, Burkett’s voice froze in midsentence and his body convulsed in a violent seizure. He was helped to the floor and then to a couch. He has had such bouts sporadically over the past several months, but this one was worse, his wife said.
The next day, Burkett resumed the interview. He lay on the couch with a wet cloth on his forehead.
And here’s a gentle evisceration of Burkett by Michael Dobbs.