www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/20/eveningnews/main644664.shtml
The documents purported to show that President George W Bush received preferential treatment during his years in the Texas Air National Guard. At the time CBS News fully believed the documents were genuine. Tonight, after further investigation, we can no longer vouch for their authenticity. The documents were provided to CBS News by a former commander in the Texas Air Guard, Bill Burkett. He did not come to CBS News, a CBS team went to him and asked him for the documents. 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 CBS News Anchor Dan Rather interviewed Burkett this past weekend, he changed his story and said he got the documents from a different source -- one CBS News cannot verify. Why did Burkett tell CBS News something he now says is not true? You know, your staff pressured me to a point to reveal that source. Rather: "Well, we were trying to get the chain of possession." Rather: "And you said that you had received them from someone." Rather: "We did pressure you to say well, you received them from someone " Burkett: "Yes." Burkett: "And I simply threw out a name that was basically I guess to take a little pressure off for a moment." Why would I, or anyone, believe that you wouldn't mislead us about something else?" That's gonna have to be your judgment and anybody else's." Burkett still insists the documents are real, but 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 gonna do with them. The failure of CBS News to do just that, to properly, fully scrutinize the documents and their source, led to our airing the documents when we should not have done so. Dan Rather also said personally and directly on the evening broadcast, "I'm sorry." CBS News President Andrew Heyward has ordered an independent investigation to examine the process by which the report was prepared. This was an error made in good faith as we tried to carry on the CBS News tradition of asking tough questions and investigating reports, but it was a mistake.
CBS News issued a statement saying it was unable to authenticate key documents about President Bush's National Guard service. Dan Rather spoke with the man who now admits he misled the network.
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