A memo purported to be a Democratic Pary talking points aide on the health care reform bill has been deemed a hoax by Democratic officials, some of whom claim it is a Republican Party fraudulent effort to derail the legislation headed for a Sunday vote.

“Democrats today are accusing Republicans of circulating a fraudulent memo that claims to be sent to 'Democratic health and communications staff' and which suggests the majority party leadership wants to make big changes to Medicare next year after health care passes,” Talking Points Memo reports about the memo, which was posted by Politico and Drudge Report before being revealed as a fake.

“An earlier post in this spot detailed what was purported by Republicans to be an internal Democratic memo regarding the upcoming health reform vote Sunday,” Politico noted in an explanation on its site. “Democratic leadership has challenged the authenticity of the memo. Politico has removed the memo and the details about it until we can absolutely verify the document's origin.”

Don't be surprised if more of this backhandedness appears before Sunday's vote, and after.