He made assertions which couldn't be adequately substantiated. Quite a different thing.
He made assertions that he didnt BOTHER to substantiate because it was a HIT PIECE on Bush and THAT"S what he was most concerned with .Violated the most basic law of reporting.
Nah, nah. He thought he had adequate substantiation. But in the real world it's rarely possible to satisfy everyone, to provide the proverbial "smoking gun". And the pressures of meeting deadlines and outdoing the competition often cause reporters to cut corners.
I don't deny that he wanted to "get Bush" and this played a big part in his "throwing caution to the winds". What I do deny is that his assertions were proved to be false...