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An Upcoming Interview with Bill Burkett

The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reports that CBS will broadcast an interview with Bill Burkett in "an effort to resolve" the dispute over the authenticity of Bush Guard Memos [more]. Apparently it will not be broadcast until midweek.

I'm speculating the Burkett will acknowledge sourcing the memos and verify their accuracy. Will he admit to forgery? Will he answer questions about the role of the DNC? Will Rather ask any tough questions or provide cross examination? No.

Update:

CBS to Admit they were misled - New York Times

But officials decided yesterday that they would most likely have to declare that they were misled about the records' origin after Mr. Rather and a top network executive, Betsy West, met in Texas with a man who was said to have helped the news division obtain the memos, a former Guard officer named Bill Burkett.

Mr. Rather interviewed Mr. Burkett on camera this weekend, and several people close to the reporting process said his answers to Mr. Rather's questions led officials to conclude that their initial confidence that the memos came from Mr. Killian's own files was not warranted. These people indicated that Mr. Burkett had previously led the producer of the piece, Mary Mapes, to have the utmost confidence in the material.

It was unclear last night whether Mr. Burkett told Mr. Rather that he had been misled about the documents' provenance or that he had been the one who did the misleading.

In an e-mail message yesterday, Mr. Burkett declined to answer any questions about the documents.

Update: CBS has issued a statement and Rather has apologized. There is no admission of inaccuracy but the network does say it was misled by Burkett regarding the source of the memos [more]. Burkett will be interviewed on the CBS evening news 9/20.

Here are more of my blog entries on this topic: