Here are a few quotes from the report of the independent review panel on the 60 Minutes Bush National Guard story that was based on forged documents. These quotes make it clear that Dan Rather’s defense is that he is just a news reader, not a real reporter and that he doesn’t really have any idea if the news he reads is true or not. I’ll buy that.
Rather gave Mapes significant responsibility to produce stories, in part due to the great confidence and respect that he had for her work, and in part due to the demands of Rather’s other duties at CBS News. In late August and early September 2004, as the September 8 Segment was being developed, Rather had even greater demands on his time than usual as he was covering the Republican Convention in New York City and then a hurricane in Florida. Thus, he was not able to spend extensive time on the development of the September 8 Segment.
Rather does not appear to have participated in any of the vetting sessions or to have even seen the Segment before it was aired.
Rather made clear that the blame for the airing of the September 8 Segment lay with 60 Minutes Wednesday personnel.
The correspondents at 60 Minutes Wednesday who have other responsibilities, including Rather, tend to delegate significant responsibilities to their producers.
Rather had only a vague recollection of speaking to Mapes either late on Thursday, September 2, or early on Friday September 3, but said he could not recall the specifics of the conversation as he was focused on getting to Florida to cover Hurricane Frances.
Rather did recall at some point learning Lieutenant Colonel Burkett’s name and knowing that he was a “key source” but not necessarily the source of the documents. He also said that he did not know before the broadcast that there was another source.
Rather, however, recalled only that Mapes told him she had the documents and did not recall speaking to Lieutenant Colonel Burkett or Van Os prior to the broadcast of the September 8 Segment.
Rather said that he did not spend much time going over the documents with Mapes…
Surprisingly, Rather did not attend any of the pre-air screenings.