Posted on 09/20/2004 3:57:31 PM PDT by RatherBiased.com
Edited on 09/20/2004 4:44:25 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
DAN RATHER: Now, news about CBS News, and the questions surrounding documents we aired on this broadcast and on the wednesday edition of "60 minutes" on September 8. The documents purported to show that George W. Bush received preferential treatment during his years in the national guard.
At the time, CBS news and this reporter fully believed the documents were genuine. Tonight, after further investigation, we can no longer say that. The documents were provided to CBS news by a former commander in the Texas National Guard, Bill Burkett. Burkett is well known in National Guard circles for a long battle over his medical benefits, and for trying, for several years now, to discredit President Bush's military service record.
Burkett initially told CBS news he got the documents from a fellow guardsman. But when we interviewed Burkett this past weekend, he changed his story, and told us he got the documents from a different source, one we cannot verify. Why did Burkett tell CBS news something he now says is not true? We put the question to him.
(from interview)
Why did you mislead us?
BILL BURKETT: Well, I didn't totally mislead you. I misled you on the one individual. You know, your staff pressured me to a point to reveal that source.
RATHER: Well, we were trying to get the chain of possession.
BURKETT: I understand that.
RATHER: And you said that you had received them from someone.
BURKETT: I understand that.
RATHER: We did pressure you to say, well, you received them from someone.
BURKETT: Yes.
RATHER: And it's true, we pressured you. It was a very important point for us.
BURKETT: Yes. And I simply threw out a name. That was basically, I guess, to take a little pressure off for a moment.
RATHER: Have you forged anything?
BURKETT: No, sir.
RATHER: He you faked anything?
BURKETT: No, sir.
RATHER: But you did mislead us.
BURKETT: Yes, I misled.
RATHER: You lied to us.
BURKETT: Yes, I did.
RATHER: Now, if you would misled us about that, which is critical, why would I or anyone believe that you wouldn't mislead us about something else?
BURKETT: I could understand that question. I can'T... that's going to have to be your judgment and anybody else's.
RATHER: Burkett still insists the documents are real, but now says he was in no position to verify them.
BURKETT: I also insisted when I sat down with your staff in the first face-to-face session, before I gave up any documents, I wanted to know what you were going to do with them, and I insisted that they be authenticated.
RATHER: The failure of CBS News to do just that, to properly scrutinize the documents and their source, led to errors in our reporting. CBS News deeply regrets it. Also I want to say personally and directly, I'm sorry. CBS News President Andrew Heyward has ordered an investigation to examine the process by which the report was prepared. It will be made public. This was an error made in good faith as we try to carry on the CBS News tradition of asking tough questions and investigating reports. But it was a mistake.
Now, some reaction to our revelations today. It comes from a spokesman for President Bush, Scott McClellan.
SCOTT McCLELLAN (White House Spokesman): Obviously there are still a number of questions that need to be answered, and we look forward to seeing the results of the investigations that other media organizations have undertaken, and that CBS says that they are now undertaking. We appreciate the fact that they have said they deeply regret it, but we still want to see those questions answered.
RATHER: And Scott McClellan repeated the the White House insistence that President Bush fulfilled his obligation to the National Guard and he was honorably discharged.
See reply 70 for an updated transcript .... Admin Moderator
Also, Burkett did NOT SAY the docs weren't forged. He only said he didn't do it.
He's still trying to distract attention away from a DNC and Kerry campaign connection, making it look like it was between CBS and Burkett!
Oh, I'll bet you...
HEY! Wasn't Max Cleland in Crawford recently to deliver some documents to President Bush in person? My guess is he did a little FAXing from the Kinko's in Abilene on his way out of town.
RATHER: Burkett still insists the documents are real, but now says he was in no position to verify them.
BURKETT: I also insisted when I sat down with your staff in the first face-to-face session, before I gave up any documents, I wanted to know what you were going to do with them, and I insisted that they be authenticated.
They are still claiming the 'story' to be true, but without the "authenicated" support documents.
"Ramon or Raymond..."
Don't forget, CBS has had hours to edit this tape. They would have cut out anything they didn't want us to know. They are aware by now that we will scrutinize everything that comes out very carefully. What I'm trying to say is that it may be a red herring.
Since this is potentially a criminal matter, the FBI should be interviewing Burkett and find out from whom he received the docs.
Anyone else noticed that we still do not know who created the forged docs and exactly how the dems knew about this in order to run their "operation fortunate son."
President Bush would have received a better apology from a coach of a losing football team. Rather is such a jerk. He is probably mad because he got caught. He didn't directly apologize to the President. But, then again, I didn't expect him to. His ego wouldn't be able to take that.His hatred of Bush was evident. Don't look for him to resign either. He will not be fired.
Has anyopne looked into the relationship between the Texas army national gaurd and the Texas air national gaurd. I know in most other states they are not connected in training areas or any other way even if Burkett was an officer they dont share information .
HAHAHAHAHA!
Well, Katie, bar the door, here come the Freepers, and they're madder than hornets with a grizzly in their hive.
Too many conflicting stories - assuming he had a face to face meeting - why would Burkett then need to "fax" CBS the documents....
Also what about the paper that said they received all six memos independently of CBS - did Dan bother to ask Burkett if he were the source for that transmission - or did they come directly from the "unnamed" source?-
This is all about SPINNING AND DAMAGE CONTROL - NOT GETTING AT THE TRUTH!!
Could be. It is strange that I don't see it in the transcript.
It could also be a code name Burkett made up.
"he changed his story, and told us he got the documents from a different source, one we cannot verify. "
Why can't they verify that source? Is he dead? Or is Burkett refusing to give CBS the name? A Congressional committee could ask Burkett that question and if he takes the 5th he could lose all retirement pay.
"BURKETT: Yes. And I simply threw out a name. "
Why didn't CBS check with that person to verify that he passed the memos to Burkett?
"To err is human but to really foul up requires a computer." - Dan Rather
I assume that Burkett was the person responsible for faxing the documents around, but it sounds like he sent them to more outlets than CBS. Other news orgs named him as probably being the source, right away, so they had to know that their copies came from him. So why did CBS bite? OR, why didn't the other outlets?
Well, if the desire was for this thing to die, it certainly raised more red flags for people.
Do you think this will make it to Congressional Committee? How do we make that happen?
Let's see what Michael Dobbs @ Washington Post does with this - he seems to be quite the reporter that all the rest of journalism should aspire to be.
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