[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 18953-18954]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              JOE LOCKHART SHOULD LEAVE THE KERRY CAMPAIGN

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

[[Page 18954]]


  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, CBS has publicly apologized for airing the 
story on President Bush's National Guard service which relied on 
fraudulent documents. The fallout from this story will be felt for a 
long time. CBS has discredited itself as a news organization.
  Some were surprised to learn that the man who produced those forged 
documents, Bill Burkett, was in contact with the Kerry campaign. A 
series of e-mails has surfaced showing that Burkett spoke with Max 
Cleland, an adviser to John Kerry's presidential campaign about 
assisting the Democrats with a counter attack on Bush.
  Also, a senior adviser to Kerry, Joe Lockhart, said that on the 
advice of CBS producer Mary Mapes, he spoke with Burkett about Vietnam 
and the Presidential campaign shortly before the piece aired. 
Lockhart's role in this attack is particularly disturbing.
  Fraudulent political attacks by anyone are reprehensible. Joe 
Lockhart is talented and intelligent, but I believe he should excuse 
himself from the Kerry campaign.

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