Drudge had it first:
STATEMENT FROM DAN 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.
Then there is this:
CBS Regrets Bush Memos Story(CBS/AP) CBS News said Monday it cannot prove the authenticity of documents used in a 60 Minutes story about President Bush's National Guard service and that airing the story was a "mistake" that CBS regretted.
CBS News Anchor Dan Rather, the reporter of the original story, apologized.
CBS claimed a source had misled the network on the documents' origins.
In a statement, CBS said former Texas Guard official Bill Burkett "has acknowledged that he provided the now-disputed documents" and "admits that he deliberately misled the CBS News producer working on the report, giving her a false account of the documents' origins to protect a promise of confidentiality to the actual source."
The network did not say the memoranda — purportedly written by one of Mr. Bush's National Guard commanders — were forgeries. But the network did say it could not authenticate the documents and that it should not have reported them.
So Dan Rather calls a guy with a history of mental illness and a grudge against Bush "unimpeachable."
Time for Dan to say good night.
More:
In the statement, CBS said: "Burkett originally said he obtained the documents from another former Guardsman. Now he says he got them from a different source whose connection to the documents and identity CBS News has been unable to verify to this point."
WHO WHO WHO?
Update: Amazingly if you read the release, they are still trying to sell the story!



Comments (10)
It would have been much bet... (Below threshold)1. Posted by tony | September 20, 2004 1:02 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It would have been much better if he'd have just held up a Wile E. Coyote-type sign that said "Oops!" on the air, then fell through a trap door or something with that cool little puff of smoke.
1. Posted by tony | September 20, 2004 1:02 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 20, 2004 13:02
2. Posted by LargeBill | September 20, 2004 1:04 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Not enough! C BS failed to also acknowledge that they used a political hack (Barnes). The documents were the more obvious fraud but Barnes has been equally discredited since the show aired.
2. Posted by LargeBill | September 20, 2004 1:04 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 20, 2004 13:04
3. Posted by Toddzilla | September 20, 2004 1:06 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I guess somebody at C BS must've written a CYA memo. Any apology that doesn't also include an apology to George W. Bush is worthless.
3. Posted by Toddzilla | September 20, 2004 1:06 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 20, 2004 13:06
4. Posted by Mark Buehner | September 20, 2004 1:09 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Simple question for The Dan: You claimed to have an unimpeachable source. Who was that? If it was Burkett, here's the guys history, how is that unimpeachable?
There is another party to this story that remains concealed.
4. Posted by Mark Buehner | September 20, 2004 1:09 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 20, 2004 13:09
5. Posted by napalmsandwich | September 20, 2004 1:24 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I placed this comment elsewhere, but it fits here as well:
1. Will CBS / Rather acknowledge the source?
2. Will CBS admit the docs were forgeries?
3. Will CBS apologize for “fake but accurate” nonsense?
4. Will CBS apologize for slandering President Bush
5. Will CBS apologize for affecting the Presidential Election based on a fraud?
6. Will CBS aplogize to all of the so-called “partical political operatives” who dared to question their reporting?
7. Will CBS admit that they ignored numerous witnesses who warned against supporting the docs?
8. Will CBS apologize to its own experts for mis-using them?
9. Will CBS apologize to the American people for it’s arrogant defense of a questionable story?
10. Will CBS remove Dan Rather, who was so willing to believe a negative story about Bush that his objectivity can never again be accepted?
5. Posted by napalmsandwich | September 20, 2004 1:24 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 20, 2004 13:24
6. Posted by Jim Kouri | September 20, 2004 1:38 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I agree it's not enough -- Rather worked in collusion with his buddies in the Texas DNC to hurt the President. His primary source for Bush's getting into the ANG as a favor has also been outed as a fraud by his own daughter and by his past quotes. The story is a bunch of crap through and through. This apology is as phony and the CBS story.
6. Posted by Jim Kouri | September 20, 2004 1:38 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 20, 2004 13:38
7. Posted by ter0 | September 20, 2004 2:04 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I want to see Bush demand that Rather put on a platinum wig, a loud sport coat, and apologize in his best Ted Baxter begging impression:
" Oh please Lou, please, please, please, pretty please forgive me...."
7. Posted by ter0 | September 20, 2004 2:04 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 20, 2004 14:04
8. Posted by MahaRichie | September 20, 2004 2:42 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I remember reading (somewhere)over a week ago about a Iowa farmer named Martin Heldt.He supposedly is a rabid anti-Bushite.I recall that he had some kind of contact with Bill Burkett re: W's NG service.Possible forger???
8. Posted by MahaRichie | September 20, 2004 2:42 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 20, 2004 14:42
9. Posted by Wild Bill | September 20, 2004 4:03 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
A source of mine faxed me a copy of the first draft of the Dan Rather cBS statement. I believe this is the original copy of the statement Dan Rather wanted to make.
9. Posted by Wild Bill | September 20, 2004 4:03 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 20, 2004 16:03
10. Posted by bob | September 20, 2004 4:08 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
But they can't be fake because the white house say anything when they saw them...har har hardee har har
10. Posted by bob | September 20, 2004 4:08 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 20, 2004 16:08