Bill Burkett
Encyclopedia
Bill Burkett was the CBS
source in the Killian documents
affair of 2004. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Texas Army National Guard
.
He claimed that in 1997, while outside the governor's office in Austin
, he allegedly overheard a conversation about "wanting to bury George W. Bush's Vietnam service record." This has been disputed.
Burkett had received publicity in 2000, after making and then retracting a claim that he had been transferred to Panama
for refusing "to falsify personnel records of Governor Bush", and in February 2004, when he claimed to have knowledge of "scrubbing" of Bush's TexANG records. According to the review panel, investigations by major news outlets at the time, including CBS, "revealed inconsistencies... which led to questions regarding his credibility and whether his claims could be proven."
Burkett's claims about the origins of the documents have since changed several times. He admitted to lying to CBS about the origin of the memos when he said he got them from fellow guardsman George Conn, then claiming that he received the Killian documents from a woman calling herself "Lucy Ramirez
." To date, she has not been identified. The documents, purported to have been typed in the early seventies, are widely reported to have almost certainly been produced with a computer using Microsoft Word
on default settings. Burkett claims that he burned the originals after faxing copies of the documents to CBS.
When asked about Burkett's role in the controversy, David Van Os, Burkett's lawyer, responded with the hypothetical that someone may have reconstructed documents that the preparer believed existed in 1972 or 1973.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
source in the Killian documents
Killian documents
The Killian documents controversy involved six documents critical of President George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard in 1972–73...
affair of 2004. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Texas Army National Guard
Texas Army National Guard
The Texas Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army, the United States National Guard and the Texas Military Forces . Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support...
.
He claimed that in 1997, while outside the governor's office in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, he allegedly overheard a conversation about "wanting to bury George W. Bush's Vietnam service record." This has been disputed.
Burkett had received publicity in 2000, after making and then retracting a claim that he had been transferred to Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
for refusing "to falsify personnel records of Governor Bush", and in February 2004, when he claimed to have knowledge of "scrubbing" of Bush's TexANG records. According to the review panel, investigations by major news outlets at the time, including CBS, "revealed inconsistencies... which led to questions regarding his credibility and whether his claims could be proven."
Burkett's claims about the origins of the documents have since changed several times. He admitted to lying to CBS about the origin of the memos when he said he got them from fellow guardsman George Conn, then claiming that he received the Killian documents from a woman calling herself "Lucy Ramirez
Lucy Ramirez
Lucy Ramirez is the name Bill Burkett gave at one point as his source for the Killian documents, which purported to relate to George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, and which were used in CBS News coverage of the George W. Bush military service controversy...
." To date, she has not been identified. The documents, purported to have been typed in the early seventies, are widely reported to have almost certainly been produced with a computer using Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
on default settings. Burkett claims that he burned the originals after faxing copies of the documents to CBS.
When asked about Burkett's role in the controversy, David Van Os, Burkett's lawyer, responded with the hypothetical that someone may have reconstructed documents that the preparer believed existed in 1972 or 1973.