CBS and Rather 'Regret' Anti-Bush Fakery

Rathergate

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'I Find We Have Been Misled,' Rather Claims

Statement by CBS News President Andrew Heyward and Dan Rather about the authenticity of documents used to support a "60 Minutes" story that questioned President Bush's Vietnam War-era National Guard service:

"60 Minutes Wednesday" had full confidence in the original report or it would not have aired.

However, in the wake of serious and disturbing questions that came up after the broadcast, CBS News has done extensive additional reporting in an effort to confirm the documents' authenticity. That included an interview featured on last week's edition of "60 Minutes Wednesday" with Marian Carr Knox, secretary to the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, the officer named as the author of the documents; the interview with Bill Burkett to be seen tonight; and a further review of the forensic evidence on both sides of the debate.

Based on what we now know, CBS News cannot prove that the documents are authentic, which is the only acceptable journalistic standard to justify using them in the report. We should not have used them. That was a mistake, which we deeply regret. Nothing is more important to us than our credibility and keeping faith with the millions of people who count on us for fair, accurate, reliable, and independent reporting. We will continue to work tirelessly to be worthy of that trust."

CBS News and CBS management are commissioning an independent review of the process by which the report was prepared and broadcast to help determine what actions need to be taken. The names of the people conducting the review will be announced shortly, and their findings will be made public.

Rather:

Last week, amid increasing questions about the authenticity of documents used in support of a "60 Minutes Wednesday" story about President Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard, CBS News vowed to re-examine the documents in question – and their source – vigorously. And we promised that we would let the American public know what this examination turned up, whatever the outcome.

Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers. That, combined with some of the questions that have been raised in public and in the press, leads me to a point where – if I knew then what I know now – I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question.

But we did use the documents. We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry. It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism.

Please know that nothing is more important to us than people's trust in our ability and our commitment to report fairly and truthfully

Rather Ducks Fox Reporter

Embattled CBS anchorman Dan Rather ducked questions about documents who used to question George Bush's National Guard service.

On Saturday Rather was challenged by a Fox news reporter in Dallas, Texas who asked him if he felt "duped" after airing forged documents about President Bush's military record.

Rather was arriving at the Dallas airport reportedly to meet with his source for the documents and further investigate the story that threatens to end his career.

The CBS News anchor tried to keep his cool as he was spotted by other reporters, maintaining gamely, "It's good to be back in Dallas."

Though Rather and other '60 Minutes' reporters made careers ambushing interview targets and demanding they come clean -- Rather looked shell shocked by the media scrutiny now focused on him.

 According to the Web site Ratherbiased.com, when a reporter from the local Fox affiliate asked, "Do you feel like you've been duped?" the irritated anchor shot back:

"Do you feel like you were duped – working for Fox like you do?"

Man Linked to Bush Memos Contacted Cleland

AUSTIN, Texas -- A retired Texas National Guard official mentioned as a possible source for disputed documents about President Bush's service in the Guard said he passed along information to a former senator working with John Kerry's campaign.

Also, a White House official said Saturday that Bush has reviewed disputed documents that purport to show he refused orders to take a physical examination in 1972 and did not recall having seen them previously

The long-running story on Bush's Texas Air National Guard service took an unusual twist when CBS broadcast a report on what it said were the newly discovered records. The authenticity of the documents has come into doubt.

In his first public comment on the CBS documents controversy, the president told The Union Leader of Manchester, N.H., "There are a lot of questions about the documents, and they need to be answered." The retired Guard official, Bill Burkett, said in an Aug. 21 e-mail to a list of Texas Democrats that after getting through "seven layers of bureaucratic kids" in the Democrat's campaign, he talked with former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland about information that would counter criticism of Kerry's Vietnam War service. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the e-mail Saturday.

"I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground and outlast it, not spending any money. (Cleland) said counterattack. So I gave them the information to do it with," Burkett wrote.

Burkett, who lives just outside of Abilene, wrote that no one at the Kerry campaign called him back.

The e-mail was distributed to a Yahoo list of Texas Democrats. The site, which had about 570 members Saturday, is not affiliated with the state party.

Republican National Committee spokesman Jim Dyke suggested collaboration between Burkett and the Kerry campaign. "The trail of connections is becoming increasingly clear," he said.

In the telephone interview published Saturday, Bush replied "I don't know" to a question whether the White House had evidence that either the Kerry campaign or the Democratic Party were involved in releasing the disputed papers.

"The Kerry campaign had absolutely nothing to do with these documents, no ifs, ands or buts," spokesman David Wade said. "Jim Dyke inhabits the fantasy world of spin where George Bush pretends we haven't lost millions of jobs and everything in Iraq is coming up roses. He'd be better served getting answers from the president, not hurling baseless attacks."

No More Dialogue With Press

Burkett, who identifies himself as a Democrat, did not return several phone messages left by The Associated Press over the past week. There was no answer at his telephone number Saturday.

Burkett's lawyer, David Van Os, a Democratic candidate for the Texas Supreme Court, issued a statement this week saying Burkett "no longer trusts any possible outcome of speaking to the press on any issue regarding George W. Bush."

Burkett, who retired from the National Guard in 1999, has been cited in media reports as a source for the CBS News "60 Minutes" story about documents allegedly written by one of Bush's former commanders that indicated the future president ignored an order to take a physical.

The authenticity of the documents has been called into question by some experts and relatives of the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who supposedly wrote them when he supervised Bush in 1972 and 1973. One of the memos indicated that Killian had been pressured to sugarcoat Bush's performance.

CBS has stood by its reporting, but said the network would redouble its efforts to determine the authenticity of the documents.

Leading operatives for the Texas Democratic Party did not receive Burkett's August e-mail, said Kelly Fero, one of the state party's strategists.

"The Democrats who run the party and are sort of the main strategists in Texas never saw it," Fero said. "We have lots of groups of Democrats who communicate among themselves constantly by e-mail."

Burkett, 55, told the AP in a lengthy telephone interview in February that he now is a supporter of Democrats, although at the time he said he didn't necessarily back Kerry.

He said he overheard a conversation in 1997 between then-Gov. Bush's chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh, and then-Adjutant Gen. Daniel James of the Texas Air National Guard in which the two men spoke of getting rid of any military records that would "embarrass the governor."

Burkett said he saw documents from Bush's file discarded in a trash can a few days later at Camp Mabry in Austin. Burkett described them as performance and pay documents. Allbaugh and James denied the allegations.

Burkett retired from the National Guard after more than 28 years of service because of medical reasons. He was involved in a lawsuit against the Guard over his medical benefits, which he lost on appeal.

Texas U.S. Atty Mum on Plans to Probe Rathergate

A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper, whose jurisdiction covers the Northern District of Texas, said Friday that she couldn't comment on whether Roper's office was planning to probe the alleged forgery of President Bush's military records, which were aired by CBS's "60 Minutes" last week.

"We would never confirm or deny an investigation," Roper's spokeswoman, Kathy Colvin, told NewsMax. Colvin suggested the decision to initiate a probe would more likely come from the Justice Department.

"You might want to touch base with them," she advised.

The forged records were faxed to CBS from an Abilene, Texas, Kinko's, which Colvin confirmed is within the jurisdiction of Roper's office.

Calls on Friday to the Justice Department, as well as to the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, were not returned.

Forging military documents is a federal felony.

The suspect documents, faxed to CBS within the last few weeks, have been called forgeries by dozens of experts who have reviewed them. At least one of CBS's own document authenticators said Thursday she tried to warn "60 Minutes" producers that they were fakes.

Bob Kohn, author of "Journalistic Fraud: How The New York Times Distorts the News and Why It Can No Longer Be Trusted," suggested Thursday that the forgery scandal may have legal ramifications for "60 Minutes" anchorman Dan Rather.

"He's got a legal problem," Kohn told MSNBC's "Scarborough Country."

"If he basically goes out and says that these are forged documents ... [they've] got to expose [the source]. That guy can turn on Dan Rather, the producers, and everybody at CBS."

If a criminal investigation were launched, said Kohn, "then you have got to watch out for witness tampering and obstruction of justice, the same thing they got [going] after Martha Stewart."

Bush Reviews Disputed Guard Documents

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine -- President Bush has reviewed disputed documents that purport to show he refused orders to take a physical examination in 1972 and did not recall having seen them previously, a White House official said Saturday.

The long-running story on Bush's Texas Air National Guard service took an unusual twist when CBS broadcast a report on what it said were the newly discovered records. The authenticity of the documents has come into doubt.

In his first public comment on the CBS documents controversy, the president told The Union Leader of Manchester, N.H., "There are a lot of questions about the documents, and they need to be answered."

In the telephone interview published Saturday, Bush replied "I don't know" to a question whether the White House had evidence that either the campaign of Democratic rival John Kerry or the Democratic Party were involved in releasing the disputed papers.

A White House spokesman said Saturday that Bush himself looked at the papers when CBS first said it had obtained them early this month. The memos, said to have been written by Bush's late squadron commander, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, indicated Killian had felt pressured to sugarcoat Bush's performance, and the future president ignored instructions to take a physical.

The president's communications director, Dan Bartlett, "showed the president the documents provided by CBS that allegedly came from Col. Killian's personal files," said spokesman Brian Besanceney. "The president had no recollection of ever seeing the documents previously."

Other records, released Friday by the Pentagon, showed that one commander took a strong interest in the congressman's son during his basic training.

The officer in charge of the unit where Bush took his basic training wrote to then-Rep. George H.W. Bush in 1968. The officer's letter was not released Friday, but the elder Bush's reply was: "That a major general in the Air Force would take interest in a brand new Air Force trainee made a big impression on me."

Democrats called the exchange proof of preferential treatment.

A stream of documents has been released about President Bush's service three decades ago during the Vietnam War. His critics say Bush received preferential treatment as the son of a congressman and U.N. ambassador. Critics also have questioned why Bush skipped the medical examination in 1972 and failed to show up for drills during a six-month period that year.

The White House has said repeatedly that all Bush's Guard records have been disclosed, only to be embarrassed when new documents have turned up. Friday's disclosures were in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The Associated Press.