The
report reinforces the complaint filed by the Center with the Federal
Election Commission, which accuses both CBS and the Kerry campaign
of violating federal election laws.
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Report
Finds Clear Conflict of Interest in CBS-Kerry Campaign
Contacts, Bolsters Centers Complaint to the FEC
The news was
all bad this week for CBS when an independent panel led by former
Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and former Associated Press
President Louis Boccardi issued its report about how "60 Minutes"
erred so badly in airing a segment attacking President Bush based
on memos that were apparently forged. Based on that independent
internal investigation, the network fired four CBS News staffers
on Monday, including the segments producer, Mary Mapes, and
the executive producer of "60 Minutes Wednesday" (on which
the segment aired), Josh Howard. Dan Rather, who narrated the segment,
announced in November that he will leave his position as anchor
of the CBS Evening News in March, but has insisted that his decision
had nothing to do with the much-criticized "60 Minutes"
segment.
According to
the report, the "60 Minutes" segment was plagued by numerous
"serious defects in
reporting and production,"
including a "failure to obtain clear authentication of any
of the [memos]," the "false statement
that an expert
had authenticated the [memos]," and a "telephone call
by the producer of the segment to a senior campaign official
of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry." The report
called this last error in judgment "a clear conflict of interest
that created the appearance of political bias."
In fact, the
report details how the collusion between CBS News and the Kerry
campaign went much deeper than a single phone call by the segments
producer. The independent investigation confirmed that, from the
very beginning, the source of the unverifiable memos demanded that
he be put in touch with the Kerry campaign, and that the producer
of the "60 Minutes" segment brokered that relationship.
According to
the report, a Kerry campaign communications official said that he
and the CBS producer "spoke several times" in the weeks
before the "60 Minutes story" aired, and that those conversations
led the producer to contact Joe Lockhart, a senior advisor to the
Kerry campaign. The report also includes testimony from Joe Lockhart
about how the CBS producer "indicated that [the source of the
memos] wanted to talk to the Kerry campaign regarding strategy."
Lockhart told the investigating panel that he understood "there
was some connection between his talking to [the source of the memos]
and the latters willingness to cooperate further with [CBS]."
Nevertheless, according to the report, "Lockhart ultimately
called [the source of the memos] at the behest of the CBS producer,
engaging in a conversation "about the direction of the campaign
and
about how the campaign could push back on the Swift Boat
attacks" on Kerrys military service in Vietnam.
Numerous revelations
in the independent report also reinforce the Complaint
filed by the Center for Individual Freedom with the Federal Election
Commission, which accuses both CBS and the Kerry campaign of violating
federal election laws in the coordination and airing of attacks
on President Bush. The Center updated its filing with the Federal
Election Commission this week, asking the Commission to consider
facts detailed in the report and include the report in the record.
[Posted
January 13, 2005]
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