He didn't fall, he participated. If it could be discovered here within an hour that the documents weren't likely authentic, CBS had to know as well. Rather didn't trust his source on the documents, in my opinion, he trusted the "recreations" they would be able to do if only they had a vehicle from which to launch the story. So you get Barnes, a partisan hack and some faked memos.
Here is the thing that makes me believe that CBS might really have a hand in writing this fiction...why are they the ones who got the story? If somebody is out there with fake memos don't you think they would have been shopped? But the story itself has been shopped in as much as it's around the internet without the current players. Rather himself gives this theory merit by saying there is too much focus on the authenticity of the memos, not the substance. Tonight he did it again by pushing the substance with a woman who admitted they were fakes. Rather has a history of doing this.
Message to Dan (and Juan Williams), the SUBSTANCE of a false document is ZILCH.