Michael, there is a side of me that sure wants to agree with what you say. But if it didn't happen this way, how does one explain what Seaton Munroe said?
I hate to appear cynical (yeah, right! I hear you say) ... but I see that Seaton Munroe was an attorney. To quote Samuel Johnson "I do not care to speak ill of any man behind his back, but I believe the gentleman is an attorney." And of course Mario Puzo, "A lawyer can steal more than a 100 men with guns."
Plus (and I post from out of the US so maybe I get only bad views through the media), I see that Seaton Munroe was a Washington attorney.