Yesterday I told you about the backing and filling of George Butler, author of the book proposal in which Arnold Schwarzenegger either (a) said he admired Hitler or (b) said he kinda-sorta admired Hitler's line readings but really, really had no earthly idea what figures from history he admired. Apparently the discrepancy can be cleared up if we can get hold of outtakes Schwarzenegger took possession of in 1991, but ... well, Schwarzie's dog ate them -- or something like that:

The campaign appeared to refine its position on release of the footage from Mr. Schwarzenegger's initial statements on Thursday, when he said he was prepared to release the film outtakes to the public but was not sure where they were. "I don't know if I have them now," he said in an interview Thursday afternoon. "If I find them, I would."

Meanwhile, the campaign and Butler did an elegant little evasion two-step:

...Mr. Butler said yesterday that he had located a relevant transcript of about 20 pages. He read portions over the phone to a reporter, but he declined to provide the transcript in full without the authorization of the campaign. By the time that a spokesman for the campaign authorized the release at the end of the day, Mr. Butler could not be reached....

Mr. Butler said the book proposal had erroneously dropped a few words from a quotation attributed to Mr. Schwarzenegger. According to Mr. Butler's reading of the transcript, Mr. Schwarzenegger followed his comments about Hitler's public speaking by adding, "But I didn't admire him for what he did with it." He did not say, "I admire him for being such a good public speaker and for what he did with it," as he was quoted in the book proposal and in early editions of The Times.

Mr. Butler said he could not explain the inaccuracy. "I am amazed that something like that escaped me."

Yes, isn't that amazing.

Another fun detail:

Yesterday, Douglas Kent Hall, a writer and photographer who co-authored Mr. Schwarzenegger's autobiography, "Arnold: The Education of a Body Builder," said that on two occasions around 1980 he, too, had watched Mr. Schwarzenegger imitate Hitler gestures and appearance for laughs. Mr. Hall provided a photograph of Mr. Schwarzenegger clowning around in a barbershop, pulling his hair down over his forehead, employing the end of a comb as a short mustache, and raising his fist.

I haven't found the photo yet. I'd love to see it.