Here’s the AP report about Lockhart speaking to Burkett at Mapes request.

Kerry ally Max Cleland, a former Georgia senator, also said he had a brief conversation last month with Burkett, who told him he had information about Bush to counter charges against Kerry’s Vietnam War service. Cleland said he gave Burkett’s name and phone number to the campaign’s research department.

Kerry spokesman David Ginsberg said nobody in the campaign’s research department followed up on Burkett’s offer of information.

Lockhart said Mapes asked him the weekend before the story broke to call Burkett. “She basically said there’s a guy who is being helpful on the story who wants to talk to you,” Lockhart said, adding that it was common knowledge that CBS was working on a story raising questions about Bush’s Guard service. Mapes told him there were some records “that might move the story forward. She didn’t tell me what they said.”

CBS ran full-tilt with a bogus story that was plugged into Fortunate Son within hours. Mapes was talking to the Kerry team, the Kerry team talked to Burkett, Cleland passed Burkett’s number to Kerry’s opposition research people, “it was common knowledge in the Kerry campaign that CBS was working on the story, yet

Lockhart said he does not recall talking to Burkett about Bush’s Guard records. “It’s baseless to say the Kerry campaign had anything to do with this,” he said.

Nobody in the Kerry campaing had anything to do with this other than speaking directly to the guy who handed the docs to CBS and working directly with the CBS producer on the story.

They really do think we’re stupid, don’t they.