BREAKING -- Drudge gets Army reports on Beauchamp

In a new development in a two-month old story, Drudge has released an overview of three documents surrounding TNR's investigation of the Scott Beauchamp pieces, and the Army's investigation into it. Needless to say, this doesn't look good for Franklin Foer and company. As a matter of fact, if you read the documents (linked below and in pdf form), you'll see that TNR tried to cover up the lies, and tried to coerce him to stand by his story despite the fact that he recanted the stories to Army investigators who couldn't corroborate a single admission from his diaries published by TNR:

SHOCK DOCS: THE NEW REPUBLIC 'SHOCK TROOPS' STORY COLLAPSES
WED Oct 24 2007 12:29:44 ET

The DRUDGE REPORT has obtained internal documents from the investigation of THE NEW REPUBLIC'S "Baghdad Diarist", Scott Thomas Beauchamp, an Army private turned war correspondent who reported tales of military malfeasance from the Iraq War front.

The documents appear to expose that once the veracity of Beauchamp's diaries were called into question, and an Army investigation ensued, THE NEW REPUBLIC has failed to publicly account for publishing slanderous falsehoods about the U.S. military in a time of war.

Document 1: Beauchamp Refuses to Stand by Story (Beauchamp Transcript Part 1)

THE NEW REPUBLIC has been standing behind the stories from their Baghdad Diarist, Scott Thomas Beauchamp, since questions were first raised about their accuracy over the summer. On August 10, the editors at TNR accused the Army of "stonewalling" their investigation into the stories by preventing them from speaking with Beauchamp. The DRUDGE REPORT has since obtained the transcript of a September 7 call between TNR editor Frank Foer, TNR executive editor Peter Scoblic, and Private Beauchamp. During the call, Beauchamp declines to stand by his stories, telling his editors that "I just want it to end. I'm not going to talk to anyone about anything really." The editors respond that "we just can't, in good conscience, continue to defend the piece" without an explanation, but Beauchamp responds only that he "doesn't care what the public thinks." The editors then ask Beauchamp to cancel scheduled interviews with the WASHINGTON POST and NEWSWEEK.

Document 2: Beauchamp Admits to "Gross Exaggerations and Inaccurate Allegations" (Beauchamp Transcript Part 2)

The DRUDGE REPORT has also obtained a signed "Memorandum for Record" in which Beauchamp recants his stories and concedes the facts of the Army's investigation -- that his stories contained "gross exaggerations and inaccurate allegations of misconduct" by his fellow soldiers.

Document 3: Army Investigation: Tales "Completely Fabricated," Beauchamp Wanted to be Hemingway

The third document obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT is the Army's official report on the investigation into the allegations made by Private Beauchamp. The Army concluded that Beauchamp had "completely fabricated" the story of mocking a disfigured woman, that his description of a "Saddam-era dumping ground" was false, and that claims that he and his men had deliberately targeted dogs with their armored vehicles was "completely unfounded." Further the report stated "that Private Beauchamp desired to use his experiences to enhance his writing and provide legitimacy to his work possibly becoming the next Hemingway."

The report concludes that "Private Beauchamp takes small bits of truth and twists and exaggerates them into fictional accounts that he puts forth as the whole truth for public consumption."

Paging Franklin Foer ... care to comment? How about that letter of resignation for blatantly and knowingly peddling lies, falsehoods, and slanderous comments about our soldiers? Granted, it's not as though those in the 'Sphere didn't know this when we started covering this story, but now that the documents are out, and the truth is being told, TNR can't simply hide behind this any longer. Their admission is needed now to save what little reputation they have left, and Franklin Foer's resignation needs to be included in that admission. There is simply no alternative for him or for the New Republic.

Publius II

UPDATE: The links to the documents at Drudge have been pulled and there's no word from Drudge as to why. For the documents in pdf form, head over to Little Green Footballs. He has them up and available for download. I would like to note that Marcie has finished reading over them, and she concludes that this is vaguely similar to the situation after Watergate.

Beauchamp just wants the story to go away, and TNR doesn't seem to be pushiing for anything further. They want this story to rest, and quickly. The feeding frenzy is gathering on the heels of this revelation. Check out Allah's post and updates (including trackbacks) to keep up on where this is going. Mark my words -- this is far from over.

Publius II