Memos forgeries, but contents accurate

According to a story in the Dallas News (behind a really annoying registration wall that bounced three BugMeNot password), Jerry Killian’s secretary — who would’ve been the one who actually typed up those memos — says they’re not the original memos, but that the contents are accurate:

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. [...]

Mrs. Knox said she did all of Lt. Col. Killian’s typing, including memos for a personal “cover his back” file he kept in a locked drawer of his desk.

She said she did not recall typing the memos reported by CBS News, though she said they accurately reflect the viewpoints of Lt. Col. Killian and documents that would have been in the personal file. Also, she could not say whether the CBS documents corresponded memo for memo with that file.

“The information in here was correct, but it was picked up from the real ones,” she said.

She said that the culture of the time was that men didn’t type office-related documents, and she expressed doubt that Lt. Col. Killian would have typed the memos. She said she would typically type his memos from his handwritten notes, which she would then destroy.

Mrs. Knox, who left the Guard before Lt. Col. Killian died, said she was not sure of the disposition of his personal files when he died while still serving at Ellington. But, she said, it would have been logical that a master sergeant who worked in the squadron headquarters would have destroyed any such nonofficial documents after Lt. Col. Killian’s death. [...]

She also said the memos may have been constructed from memory by someone who had seen Lt. Col. Killian’s private file but were not transcriptions because the language and terminology did not match what he would have used.

(Emphasis added. Link via Matthew Yglesias.)

Update: USA Today has a story on this too, without making you jump through registration hoops.

Now can we all get back to talking about how much Bush is screwing up the country?

A fine use of my tax dollars

Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day looks like something out of The Day After Tomorrow.