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This page is part of the Hoax Archive, a collection of history's most interesting and notorious deceptions categorized by theme and time period.
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The CBS Bush Memos, aka Rathergate
Date: September 2004
Categories: Political, Television Hoaxes, Journalists Hoaxed, 2000s
Categories: Political, Television Hoaxes, Journalists Hoaxed, 2000s
On 8 September 2004, Dan Rather reported on 60 Minutes that CBS had obtained documents revealing that President Bush had disobeyed orders while serving in the National Guard and had then used his family's influence to cover up his poor service record. The documents allegedly came from the files of Col. Killian, Bush's commanding officer in the Guard. Rather's news report generated controversy almost immediately. Bloggers pointed out that the documents in question looked as if they had been written in Microsoft Word, which would not have existed when Bush was serving in the Guard. Initially CBS paid no attention to the bloggers, but when it realized that its source for the documents, Bill Burkett, had lied about how he obtained them, it decided that it could no longer vouch for their authenticity. Rather apologized for airing the story.

