Posted on 09/23/2004 6:21:39 AM PDT by johnny7
On the same day CBS announced the appointment of an independent commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding forged documents aired during a "60 Minutes" segment, the company girded for legal action in the matter. On Wednesday, Anthony Bongiorno, counsel for the beleaguered network ordered a legal hold on all tapes and material relating to the report.
Bongiorno did not return a telephone call seeking additional information, but a Talon News source reported that the hold was a response to legal action that was expected following the independent commission's investigation. Bill Burkett, the admitted source of the forgeries, is threatening to sue the network for libel. Fraud charges may ultimately be filed and an investigation by Congress or the Federal Election Commission is likely. The source also described a contentious split in the Washington office of the news organization. It was CBS Washington bureau chief Janet Leissner who orchestrated the fateful interview in which CBS correspondent John Roberts confronted White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett with the phony documents. Anchor Dan Rather was originally scheduled to do the interview.
Pressure on the network continues to increase as the ratings for its news programming plummets. A protest rally outside CBS's Washington headquarters Wednesday by members of FreeRepublic.com brought more unwelcome publicity and reflected the backlash occurring against CBS affiliates across the country. Affiliates' switchboards and station managers' e-mail inboxes have been filling up with angry complaints from viewers that range from dishonest reporting to helping Democrats oust President Bush. The revelation that the producer of the "60 Minutes" report, Mary Mapes, contacted Joe Lockhart, a senior advisor to the Kerry campaign, contributed to the appearance of coordination. Network executives hope to mitigate the negative impact of the scandal in the speedy appointment of the commission. Dick Thornburgh, former governor of Pennsylvania and Attorney General under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush was selected along with Louis D. Boccardi, retired president and chief executive officer of the Associated Press, to comprise the independent review panel.
The scope of the investigation has not yet been made public, but observers suggest it will need to be broad and deep to salvage the network's reputation. The internal structure will most certainly be examined, but the motives behind editorial decisions will need to be looked into as well.
CBS has reportedly been following on the story about Bush's Texas Air National Guard since before the 2000 election. Former Gore campaign manager Tony Coelho recently said that he was aware of the rumors about gaps in Bush's service record during that campaign, but decided to not to make an issue of it.
Yea... I'll believe it when I see it. SeeBS will stonewall on this aspect of the invesigation. It's one thing to be shamelessly slanting your news for a Democrat candidate, but to be caught taking marching orders from the DNC is grounds for a good, old-fashioned hangin'!
Burkett is threatening to sue. If you sleep with dogs, you get fleas.
"...CONTRIBUTED TO THE APPEARANCE OF coordination."
BWAHAHAHAHAHA! They just CANNOT stop SPINNING!!!
Putting the Presidents father on the board is one of the smartest or dumbest moves this century.
I can't decide which.
At least the board can't be acused of being bias.
The prime criminal is threatening to sue the co-conspirator.
How like a liberal.
Is his lawyer John Edwards?
I can't imagine that CBS will open up everything for their "investigative panel" to see when you consider that they are facing a lawsuit.
Burkett's law suit will be sited as the reason further information cannot be released. Anyone think the law suit is a farce to give CBS cover to continue stonewalling ?
"On Wednesday, Anthony Bongiorno, counsel for the beleaguered network ordered a legal hold on all tapes and material relating to the report."
Of course. He's the best choice to figure out what to destroy and what it's safe to keep.
This ain't going nowhere. 'Scuse me -- gotta call the broker and tell him to buy stock in Whitewash.
GHWB is not on the board. Thornburg was his AG.
Demand a criminal investigation into this incident. The forgery of Texas Air National Guard documents is a felony, and there are grounds to investigate a conspiracy related to the forgery of those documents.
I think you have misread the announcement. George H.W. Bush is not on the commission. Thornburgh was Attorney General under both Reagan and Bush 41. The sentence was badly written. The commission has only 2 members.
What the article conveniently left out is that Boccardi, the second member of the commission, is apparently a good friend of Rather's.
He is not on the panel.
Connect the dots..Cleland, Lockhart, Dean, Cahill and Ted Kennedy, Burkett and Ben Barnes..all Dems connected to either the Kerry camp directly or to Texas Dem party. This smells of Watergate coverups.
Strange too is no mention of Cameron Kerry's 'watergate' breakin of his brother's rival during John Kerry's first run for Congress. Eagletribune But there was another, seldom-mentioned element of his 1972 run for 5th District congressman: the wild and wooly nature of the primary election that featured a Watergate-type break-in involving Kerry's campaign staff.
Kerry's younger brother, Cameron, and his campaign field director, Thomas Vallely, were arrested one day before the primary for breaking into a Lowell basement where telephone lines were kept for both the Kerry and DiFruscia campaigns. Their offices were on the same block.
I've seen two referenced to this phone call CNSNEWS Burkett's history with the Kerry campaign and Democratic National Committee also includes phone conversations with former Georgia U.S. senator Max Cleland and former Vermont governor Howard Dean, both of whom are campaigning on Kerry's behalf.
NY POST Burkett said he wanted to advise the Democrats on how to respond to the questions being raised about Kerry's own military record. To that end, he also was able to get former Sen. Max Cleland, a Kerry confidante, and ex-presidential candidate Howard Dean on the phone over the last 45 days.
Not just to cover stonewalling, but to have a legal way to pay off Burkett for his on-air interview and to make sure he will keep his mouth shut.
Yep--I do.
You have a good point. I guess book deals are not the only way to launder payoffs.
You win the prize. This is precisely what is happening.
The format in the article did not help either. Darn that speed reading class.
Thanks.
You mean the Evelyn Woodhead Sped Reding course?
ALL viacom shareholders should sue.
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