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CBS News Concludes It Was Misled on National Guard Memos, Network Officials Say
New York Times ^ | 9/20/04 | Jim Rutenberg

Posted on 09/19/2004 9:40:13 PM PDT by LibWhacker

After days of expressing confidence about the documents used in a "60 Minutes'' report that raised new questions about President Bush's National Guard service, CBS News officials have grave doubts about the authenticity of the material, network officials said last night.

Those officials, who asked not to be identified, said CBS News would most likely make an announcement as early as today that it had been deceived about the documents' origins, and that it was mounting an intensive news investigation of where they came from.

But these people cautioned that CBS News could still pull back from an announcement. Officials were meeting last night with Dan Rather, the anchor who presented the report, to go over the information it has collected about the documents one last time before making a final decision.

People at the network said it was now possible that officials would open a formal internal inquiry into how it moved forward with the report, which officials now say they are beginning to believe was too flawed to have gone on the air.

The report relied in large part on four memorandums purported to be from the personal file of Mr. Bush's squadron commander, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, who died 20 years ago. The memos, dated from the early 1970's, said that Colonel Killian was under pressure to "sugar coat'' the record of the young Lieutenant Bush and that the officer had disobeyed a direct order to take a physical.

Mr. Rather and others at the network are said to still believe that the sentiment in the memos accurately reflected Mr. Killian's feelings, but that the documents' authenticity is now in grave doubt.

The developments last night marked a dramatic turn for CBS News, which for a week stood steadfastly by its Sept. 8 report as various document experts asserted that the typeface of the memos could have been produced only by a modern-day word processor, not Vietnam War-era typewriters.

The seemingly unflappable confidence of Mr. Rather and top news division officials in the documents allayed fears within the network and created doubt among some in the news media at large that those specialists were correct. CBS News officials had said they had reason to be certain that the documents indeed came from the personal file of Colonel Killian.

Sandy Genelius, a network spokeswoman, said last week, "We are confident about the chain of custody; we're confident in how we secured the documents.''

But officials decided yesterday that they would most likely have to declare that they were misled about the records' origin after Mr. Rather and a top network executive, Betsy West, met in Texas with a man who was said to have helped the news division obtain the memos, a former Guard officer named Bill Burkett.

Mr. Rather interviewed Mr. Burkett on camera this weekend, and several people close to the reporting process said his answers to Mr. Rather's questions led officials to conclude that their initial confidence that the memos came from Mr. Killian's own files was not warranted. These people indicated that Mr. Burkett had previously led the producer of the piece, Mary Mapes, to have the utmost confidence in the material.

It was unclear last night whether Mr. Burkett told Mr. Rather that he had been misled about the documents' provenance or that he had been the one who did the misleading.

In an e-mail message yesterday, Mr. Burkett declined to answer any questions about the documents.

Yesterday, Emily J. Will, a document specialist who inspected the records for CBS News and said last week that she had raised concerns about their authenticity with CBS News producers, confirmed a report in Newsweek that a producer had told her that the source of the documents had said they were obtained anonymously and through the mail.

During an interview last night she declined to name the producer who told her this but said that the producer had been in a position to know. CBS News officials have disputed her contention that she warned the network the night before the initial "60 Minutes'' report that it would face questions from documents experts.

In the coming days CBS News officials plan to focus on how the network moved ahead with the report when there were warning signs that the memorandums were not genuine.

Ms. Will is one of two documents experts consulted by the network who said they raised doubts about the material before the segment was broadcast. Another expert, Marcel B. Matley, said in interviews that he had only vouched for Colonel Killian's signatures on the records and not the authenticity of the records themselves. Mr. Matley said he could not rule out that the signatures were cut and pasted from official records pertaining to Colonel Killian.

In examining where the network went wrong, officials at CBS News were turning their attention to Ms. Mapes, one of their most respected producers, who was riding particularly high this year after breaking news about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal for the network.

In a telephone interview this weekend, Josh Howard, the executive producer of the "60 Minutes'' Wednesday edition, said he did not initially know who was Ms. Mapes' primary source for the documents but that he did not see any reason to doubt them. He said he believed Ms. Mapes and her team had appropriately answered all questions about the documents' authenticity and, he noted, no one seemed to be casting doubt upon the essential thrust of the report.

"The editorial story line was still intact, and still is, to this day,'' he said, "and the reporting that was done in it was by a person who has turned in decades of flawless reporting with no challenge to her credibility.''

He added, "We in management had no sense that the producing team wasn't completely comfortable with the results of the document analysis.''

Ms. Mapes has not responded to requests for comment.

Mr. Howard also said in the interview that the White House did not dispute the veracity of the documents when it was presented them on the morning of the report. That reaction, he said, was "the icing on the cake'' of the other reporting the network was conducting on the documents. White House officials have said they saw no reason to challenge documents that had been presented by a credible news organization.

Several people familiar with the situation said that they were girding for a particularly tough week for Mr. Rather and the news division should the network announce its new doubts.

One person close to the situation said the critical question would be, "Where was everybody's judgment on that last day?''


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 60minutes; blatheringidiots; cbs; cbsnews; danblather; dopes; duped; forgery; killian; mapes; mapesthemope; marymapes; memogate; memos; msmapes; napalminthemorning; pajamahadeen; pajamaratti; rather; rathergate; schadenfreude; seebs; seebsnews
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To: CurlyDave
Oh, but Dan, you said they were from an unimpeachable source.

Silly us, we thought he meant "a source of the highest integrity."

He meant "unimpeachable" in the sense that you can't impeach or impugn the credibility of a source you've never met and can't find.

Dan's a clever guy with words.

141 posted on 09/19/2004 10:10:57 PM PDT by litany_of_lies
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To: LibWhacker

Well, their forced and less than genuine mea culpa will not change anything for me. I loathe cbs just the same as ever.

Now if they would consider canning old man blather, well...then I would loathe them two-thirds as much.

I am certain cbs and the blather cabel is damn pissed that the holes in the story became apparent for everyone else to see BESIDES them.


142 posted on 09/19/2004 10:11:01 PM PDT by Donna Lee Nardo
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To: Inyokern
According to the Washington Post (MSM, you know!), on September 10, 2004:

CBS News released a statement yesterday standing by its reporting,
saying that each of the documents "was thoroughly vetted by independent experts
and we are convinced of their authenticity."
The statement added that CBS reporters had verified the documents
by talking to unidentified people who saw them
"at the time they were written."

Got that? "At the time they were written."

When RatherDishonestTM tries to interview Burkett on this, we should shove this
right up his FAX machine.

Source:Link to WP Sept.10

143 posted on 09/19/2004 10:11:10 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: LibWhacker
So does this mean they believe Burkett forged the documents? or did someone else forge them and then give them to Burkett??

WHO tried to change the outcome of a Presidential Election??

144 posted on 09/19/2004 10:11:29 PM PDT by Mo1 (Why is the MSM calling the Vietnam Vets and POW's a suspected group??)
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To: LibWhacker

Forgery of a military document is a F-E-L-O-N-Y.


145 posted on 09/19/2004 10:11:37 PM PDT by Terabitten (Live as a bastion of freedom and democracy in the midst of the heart of darkness.)
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To: CurlyDave

Good point! Dan can't afford to come clean on this. Ever.


146 posted on 09/19/2004 10:12:21 PM PDT by LibWhacker (It is the black heart of Islam, not its black face, to which millions object)
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To: LibWhacker

CBS MAKES THIS STATEMENT...

"Sandy Genelius, a network spokeswoman, said last week, "We are confident about the chain of custody; we're confident in how we secured the documents.'' "


THEN THEY FLIP FLOP TO THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS...
"But officials decided yesterday that they would most likely have to declare that they were misled about the records' origin after Mr. Rather and a top network executive, Betsy West, met in Texas with a man who was said to have helped the news division obtain the memos, a former Guard officer named Bill Burkett. ""


HOW CAN THEY BE CONFIDENT....AND THEN CLAIM THEY WERE MISLED.
They are a major news group with many investigative tools at their disposal.

THEY WERE IN A POSITION TO KNOW THAT BURKETT WAS NOT A GOOD SOURCE. ESPECIALLY SINCE BURKETT HAD BEEN DISCREDITED IN THE PAST. AND HAD RETRACTED THE SAME TYPE OF CHARGES.

THEY WOULD HAVE KNOWN...AS MENTIONED BY THEIR OWN EXPERT ON THE MEMOS...

"Yesterday, Emily J. Will, a document specialist who inspected the records for CBS News and said last week that she had raised concerns about their authenticity with CBS News producers, confirmed a report in Newsweek that a producer had told her that the source of the documents had said they were obtained anonymously and through the mail.

During an interview last night she declined to name the producer who told her this but said that the producer had been in a position to know.""

CBS FLIP FLOPS....JUST LIKE THEIR BOY KERRY.


147 posted on 09/19/2004 10:12:25 PM PDT by ArmyBratproud (all)
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To: kristinn
I sure hope " APOLOGIZE TO PRESIDENT BUSH" will be one of your signs when you freep CBS Hqs.
148 posted on 09/19/2004 10:12:26 PM PDT by YaYa123 (@It's A Joke For Dan To Claim He Didn't Want To Bring Down Our President, & During A Time of War.com)
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To: Lancey Howard

Maybe this is the DNC just sending a message to CBS without making a direct and telling phonecall. "Please admit you made a mistake so we can moveon.org to the next spitball hate-attack."


149 posted on 09/19/2004 10:12:41 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude Adjustments Offered Here Free of Charge)
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To: hobson
Perhaps they could use this to aid in their investigation. My husband and I put this together yesterday.

Has anyone forwarded this to FoxBabesTM News, Rush, etc., yet?

150 posted on 09/19/2004 10:13:25 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: woodb01

Big ole bump!


151 posted on 09/19/2004 10:13:41 PM PDT by dixiechick2000
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To: Stonedog

The major bloggers have linked to it thanks to Cableguy and ratherbiased.com


152 posted on 09/19/2004 10:14:35 PM PDT by hobson
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To: Reagan is King
Based on what?

Spitballs. (rim shot)

153 posted on 09/19/2004 10:14:38 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: Gooze Frabah

No problem; it was worth reading twice. In fact, I've been reading almost all the comments twice. They're that good! :-)


154 posted on 09/19/2004 10:14:56 PM PDT by LibWhacker (It is the black heart of Islam, not its black face, to which millions object)
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To: LibWhacker
Courage.
155 posted on 09/19/2004 10:15:25 PM PDT by Dont_Tread_On_Me_888 (John Kerry--three fake Purple Hearts. George Bush--one real heart of gold.)
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To: grey_whiskers
LOL!

That struck me as funny. ;o)

156 posted on 09/19/2004 10:16:17 PM PDT by dixiechick2000
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To: grey_whiskers

Not that I know of. Cableguy sent it out to a bunch of people but I'm not sure who was on the list.


157 posted on 09/19/2004 10:16:43 PM PDT by hobson
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To: gilliam; Buckhead

oops


158 posted on 09/19/2004 10:16:55 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude Adjustments Offered Here Free of Charge)
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To: JZdiablo

You miss a day, you miss a lot. :)


159 posted on 09/19/2004 10:16:56 PM PDT by Stellar Dendrite ( An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. - Winston Churchill)
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To: Tragically Single

"CBS would do well to remember the #1 lesson of Watergate - the coverup is ALWAYS worse than the crime. Always. Every single time."

also cc: martha stewart


160 posted on 09/19/2004 10:17:12 PM PDT by WoofDog123
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