Dan Rather has decided to file suit claiming that CBS committed fraud by commissioning a “biased” and incomplete investigation into his infamous 60 Minutes II broadcast. That was the one where he tried to swing the 2004 presidential election to John Kerry, using obviously forged memos. Ed Morrissey's take:
Don't expect to see CBS settle this case, although one might expect them to avoid the embarrassment. Many people in and out of the network have hard feelings about their dealings with Dan Rather -- read Bernard Goldberg's Bias to understand why -- and this is their chance to stomp on what little is left of Rather's reputation.
Update: Howard Kurtz writes in the Washington Post that one of Rather's former colleagues expressed bafflement at Rather's claims.
I think he's gone off the deep end," said Josh Howard, who was forced to resign as executive producer of "60 Minutes II" after CBS retracted the story. "He seems to be saying he was just the narrator.
"He did every interview. He worked the sources over the phone. He was there in the room with the so-called document experts. He argued over every line in the script. It's laughable."
Howard sounds like somebody who might be very happy to join in on the stomping. It leads me to wonder if a trial will ever come off. Rather might rather find a way to declare victory and drop it.
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