Statement by the President of CBS News, Andrew Heyward:

Drudge Report ^ | September 15, 2004

[RWR8189]

Statement by the President of CBS News, Andrew Heyward:

"We established to our satisfaction that the memos were accurate or we would not have put them on television. There was a great deal of coroborating [sic] evidence from people in a position to know. Having said that, given all the questions about them, we believe we should redouble our efforts to answer those questions, so that's what we are doing."

[Darnright]

>Just hold out until Ivan can knock Memogate onto the back burner.

Yep, and it could, potentially, work. Just look at how the first "memogate", featuring Sandy "shove it down the drawers" Berger has been conveniently knocked from the consciousness of John Q Public.

[Knownothing]

Rum Tum Tugger I think you're right. I think they were poised to say something much bigger, and either they couldn't get their ducks in a row or they couldn't agree on what to say. This message said "nothing to see here, move on." They way they delivered it said "SOMETHING BIG TO SEE HERE, EVERYBODY L@@K!!!" Clearly, something must have happened during the course of the day that changed their message.

[onehipdad]

If they are so certain they are legitimate then WHY the "further investigation"?

He did not say they were legitimate, he said they were accurate, which is to say: The documents indicate what CBS expects them to indicate, irregardless of a basis in fact.

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep – Saul Bellow

[Aquinasfan]

The longer they stonewall the better. Didn't they learn anything from Watergate? I'm enjoying the irony immensely.

[applpie]

i predict zero affect on cbs or dan rather other than the brief tempest we are having at the moment. these guys are never held accountable. I WISH someone with a spine in the Republican camp, the FCC, or the justice department would take this on and hold them accountable. there ought to be something illegal about manufacturing evidence to commit libel.

[rvoitier]

This may be expounding on the obvious but what happened was CBS' 5 year investigation (read:dirt-digging expedition with disgruntled democRATS) turned up anectodtal evidence of the substance contained in the document presenting on 60min but just didn't have an actual document. So they made one up.
If they would've just nixed the documents and told the truth that they talked to a lot people who said this and that then there would've been no problemo.
But 'ole kooky Dan had to be greedy and make it look official.

[HoustonTech]

This is good news, because it keeps the issue alive for several more news cycles. Aren't liberals dumb?

[ken5050]

Note that the word "is" does NOT appear in the statement..

[sheikdetailfeather]

"If we say we will look into all the questions..will you believe we care if we report the truth THEN????"

[My2Cents]

This is a ploy to see if the furor over this dies down.

That was Nixon's Watergate strategy.

[DannyTN]

It depends on what the meaning of "forged" is.

[longtermmemmory]

Translation: Wanted one 1970 Olympia typewriter, must have operational 34 year old ink. Willing to just rent for typing of six memos. Will assure confidentiality.

[Wolfstar]

If they are so certain they are legitimate...

Ah, but they didn't say the memos were legitimate, only that CBS had reason to believe they were "accurate." A world of difference between the two.

[Americanwolf]

And you think they would have learned from that. :)

[georgiegirl]

redouble our efforts

um-- doublespeak --- re: our efforts

[Logical me]

Watch Limbaugh and Hannity rip this up tomorrow. What a cop out. I've never heard such crap in my 72 years. CBS - their sh##.

[hershey]

Hit CBS where it hurts, in the board room and the wallet. Viacom or whoever owns most of the stock should get emails non stop. Everyone else advertising on Rather's program should hear that they're losing customers for good.

[mlbford2]

May I be the first to decry a pajama fatwa.

[Americanwolf]

I second the PJF! (Pajama Fatawa, I like that!)