The Texas attorney general has announced a criminal investigation of the fraudulent Killian memos. (Hat tip: song_and_dance_man.)

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has launched a criminal investigation into forged military records allegedly obtained from President Bush’s National Guard file that were aired by CBS News three weeks ago, referring a congressional request for the probe to the investigative division of the Texas Rangers.

“On Wednesday 52 Republican congressman urged the Texas attorney general and the U.S. attorney in Lubbock to investigate who created a bogus document at the heart of the now-discredited CBS News story accusing Bush of shirking his Guard duty,” the Fox News Channel’s Major Garrett reported.

The congressional letter read in part: “We request an immediate investigation and prosecution if warranted. Our interest is in whether any state or federal crimes were committed.”

Texas Attorney General Abbott immediately forwarded the congressional request to the investigative division of the Texas Rangers, Garrett said.

UPDATE at 9/30/04 1:11:52 pm:

The story quoted above apparently overstates the case; the Texas Rangers are “evaluating” the request, and no decision has been made yet on whether to proceed. The Texas AG has nothing on his web site as of this writing. (Hat tip: Max Darkside.)