Drudge: 'A Preponderance of Evidence': CBS News releases its statement [must read]

The CBS News report was based on a preponderance of evidence: many interviews, both on- and off-camera, with individuals with direct and indirect knowledge of the situation, atmosphere and events of the period in question, as well as the procedures, character and thinking of Lt. Col. Killian, Lt. Bush's squadron commander in the Guard, at the time.

The report also included the first television interview with Ben Barnes, a Democrat and current fundraiser for John Kerry, who said he helped get Mr. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard at the request of a Bush family friend.

Numerous questions have been raised about the authenticity of the documents. CBS News believes it is important for the news media to be accountable and address legitimate questions.

The 60 MINUTES Wednesday broadcast reported that it obtained six documents from the personal files of Lt. Col. Killian, four of which were used in the broadcast. In accordance with longstanding journalistic ethics, CBS News is not prepared to reveal its confidential sources or the method by which 60 MINUTES Wednesday received the documents. CBS News' reporting determined that the source of the memos had access to the documents he provided and an opportunity to obtain copies of them. Our sources included individuals who had first-hand knowledge of the events in question.

Additionally, Mary Mapes, the producer of the report and a well-respected, veteran journalist whose credibility has never been questioned, has been following this story for more than five years. She has a vast and detailed knowledge of the issues surrounding President Bush's service in the Guard and of the individuals involved in the story. Before the report was broadcast, it was vetted and screened in accordance with CBS News standards by several veteran 60 MINUTES Wednesday senior producers and CBS News executives.

Four independent individuals with expertise in the authentication of documents were consulted prior to the broadcast of the story regarding the documents 60 MINUTES Wednesday obtained: document examiners Marcel B. Matley, James J. Pierce, Emily Will and Linda James.

As CBS News has publicly stated, the documents used in the report were photocopies of originals.

Two of the examiners, Mssrs. Matley and Pierce, attested and continue to attest to their belief in the documents' authenticity. (see attachments 1 and 2) Two others, Ms. Will and Ms. James, appeared on a competing network yesterday, where they misrepresented their conversations and communication with CBS News. In fact, they assessed only one of the four documents used in the report, and while one of them raised a question about one aspect of that one document, they did not raise substantial objections or render definitive judgment on the document. Ultimately, they played a peripheral role in the authentication process and deferred to Mr. Matley, who examined all four of the documents used.

Additionally, two more individuals with specific expertise relative to the documents - Bill Glennon, a technology consultant and long-time IBM typewriter service technician, and Richard Katz, a computer software expert - were asked to examine the documents after the broadcast for a report in the Sept. 13 CBS EVENING NEWS. They, too, found nothing to lead them to believe that the documents did not date back to the early 1970s. They strongly refuted the claim made by some critics that there were no typewriters in existence in the early 1970s that could have produced such documents. (see attachments 3 and 4)

- Katz believes the documents were written on a typewriter and not a computer. (attachment 3)

- Glennon confirms that the superscript "th" and proportional spacing of the typeface of the four documents were definitely available on typewriters as early as the late 1960s. (attachment 4)

- Pierce believes that the documents in question are authentic as best as he can determine, given that they are copies and not originals. (attachment 2)

Again, the documents used for the 60 MINUTES Wednesday report were copies, and most of the analysis fueling the current controversy is based on scanned, downloaded, faxed or re-copied copies. For now, the disagreements among "dueling experts" have not been resolved.

Maj. Gen. Bobby Hodges, who was group commander of Lt. Bush's squadron, has stated to The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, among others, that he believes the documents are not real, but also told The New York Times, in an article that appeared on Sept. 12, that the information in the CBS News report "...reflected issues he and Col. Killian had discussed-namely Mr. Bush's failure to appear for a physical, which military records released previously by the White House show, led to a suspension from flying." That is consistent with what he told CBS News off-camera as part of the research for this report.

A reference in one memo to Gen. Buck Staudt applying pressure on behalf of Lt. Bush raised questions because Staudt had left his job 18 months before the memo was written. But CBS News' background reporting determined that Staudt remained a powerful figure in the Guard for years after his retirement, a fact that is confirmed by Ms. Knox in a newspaper interview. More importantly, the same memo referred to unhappiness in Austin, an obvious reference to Staudt's successor at the Austin, Texas, headquarters of the Texas Air National Guard.

The editorial content of the report was not based solely on the physical documents, but also on numerous credible sources who supported what the documents said.

Through all of the frenzied debate of the past week, the basic content of the 60 MINUTES Wednesday report - that President Bush received preferential treatment to gain entrance to the Texas Air National Guard and that he may not have fulfilled all of the requirements -- has not been substantially challenged.

CBS News will make every effort to resolve the contradictions and answer the unanswered questions about the documents and will continue to report on all aspects of the story.

But CBS News' background reporting determined that Staudt remained a powerful figure in the Guard for years after his retirement, a fact that is confirmed by Ms. Knox in a newspaper interview.

MORE LIES FROM SEE BS:

http://www.ktok.com/script/headline_newsmanager.php?id=347783&pagecontent=nationalnews&feed_id=59

"Knox said that she didn't recall typing a Killian memo alleging that a commander, Col. Walter "Buck" Staudt, was pressuring officers to "sugar coat" Bush's record. But she said that Staudt's larger-than-life dominance of the unit would have been reflected in Killian's personal files.

She added, though, that there's no way Staudt could have exerted that influence after he retired."

Here is the latest from the DUmmies on Memogate. Read and LAUGH:

Seriously my humble take on this is that even is the documents are forged it is the press's duty to stay on story which are the multitude of lies in GW Bush's military record. If this 86 year old grandma goes on and on about how she recalls waht a rule breaKER, SLACK OFF, AWOL DRUNK NO SHOW HE WAS --ONCE AGAIN THE WH HAS A PROBLEM. Not every independent or fence sitter is going to suck this up and blame Dan Rather...

why couldn't the documents be forgeries? Rovian attempt to get Rather Compared to the rest of the presstitutes, Rather has become a bit of a thorn in the side of the Bushies. Sixty Minutes has also been out in front of the herd of lapdogs. Why WOULDN'T a Rove type set a trap, with faked documents, to try to snare Rather?

I yelled at Dan saying, "Dan, you are my HERO!!!!!!!!!!!

Sure hope Dan-the-Man lobs a THUTH grenade into the whoring cabal of scum

I hope ALL the media in this country is watching this unfold. Dan Rather is giving them a lesson on what reporting is supposed to be.

I am now officially in love with Dan Rather.

If CBS had backed down in the face of intimidation, the bullies would be crawling all over the network's corpse now, and we Democrats would have made another crucial tactical error. We have to defend the truth, even if it is a minor truth. If we give in to bullying, we've lost.

Here's the email I sent: Thank you, Dan Rather, for being one of the last true journalists of courage and integrity remaining on the planet! Those of us who still value Truth over Propaganda respect and applaud you! Please, oh please, continue your efforts and set the example for your fellow "journalists" who routinely cede to the pressures of the Bush Administration and become complicit in spreading their lies and obfuscations. You, sir, are a true Hero! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Way to go Dan, my respect for this man just keeps growing. I just hope he really has the goods. I suspect he does, but man if he doesn't.......

I have two things to say: 1. Thank you, Mr. Rather; and.... 2. Have you no shame, Mr. Bush? Just answer the questions.

I get the feeling Dan has lived for this moment for years now, he's kept rather quiet, careful not to rock the boat too much. For the last five years, people have wondered, why is he still hanging on. Sometimes he looked so tired. But now, when American is at her darkest hour, Dan is taking off the mask and putting his cards on the table. He knows more sh*t about this cabal, then most of us put together. He has been there since the beginning and he has seen it all.

Could CBS have the originals as well? Maybe they were hoping bush would deny the charges and then they could present the real docs and REALLY hang his ass? This gets more and more strange...yesterday I thought it was a Rove's trick but CBS is not backing down so they must have something to back themselves up. Frankly it looks like they want to force bush co into a courtroom or congressional hearing????

I want Dan Rather to unleash the fury NOW!!!!

The documents could be true in content but unauthentic from the standpoint that they are not the original documents and have been reproduced.

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