I was at Google when that happened, and had some inside sources (ie gossip from the guys who interviewed him, who said they didn't even ask any tree questions, and memegen).
I tried to find some outside sources, but nothing about Howell admitting his 'artistic license' outright. So take my fallible memory with a large pinch of salt.
Just for the record, that never actually happened. It's just a thing the homebrew guy made up.
(I know, the rest of your points are unaffected by this. I just feel annoyed when we casually warm up old myths.)