Forgery Charges Dog CBS News

September 15, 2004

Forgery Charges Dog CBS News

"As a political issue, it seems doubtful that many swing voters will make their final decision on the coming election based on the authenticity of certain documents about President George Bush's National Guard service," the Wall Street Journal reports.

"But for anchor Dan Rather, CBS News's valuable 60 Minutes franchise and the news divisions of the broadcast networks, the supposedly 30-year-old photocopies are a big story that isn't showing signs of going away."

The New York Times notes the secretary "for the squadron commander purported to be the author of now-disputed memorandums" said that "she never typed the documents and believed that they are fakes." Nonetheless, "she also said they accurately reflect the thoughts of the commander... and other memorandums she typed for him about" Bush.

The Washington Post reports "two document experts retained by CBS News for the disputed 60 Minutes story" said "they had warned the program that the memos involved had significant problems but that their concerns were not heeded."

Update: Here's an interesting twist. A Dallas Morning News article says the former secretary believes the documents are fake "but that they reflect documents that once existed."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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September 15, 2004