The Killian documents controversy (also called Memogate or Rathergate) involved faxed copies of unauthenticated documents that were publicized by CBS News during the 2004 US presidential campaign. The photocopied documents, obtained by CBS News producer Mary Mapes from Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, a former officer in the Texas Air National Guard (TexANG), were the basis for a 60 Minutes Wednesday segment that aired on September 8, 2004 and was presented by CBS anchor Dan Rather, who asserted the documents "were taken from Colonel Killian’s personal files" and had been authenticated by document experts retained by CBS. They contained criticisms of President George W. Bush's service in the Guard during the Vietnam war of the 1970s, purportedly by Bush's commander, the late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian, and re-opened the George W. Bush military service controversy.
CBS' claims were contested within hours on Internet forums and blogs, with questions initially focused on alleged anachronisms in the documents' typography and content soon spreading to the mainstream media. Although CBS and Rather defended the authenticity and usage of the document for a two-week period, continued scrutiny from independent and rival news organizations and independent analysis of other copies of the documents obtained by USA Today raised persistent doubts about the credibility of CBS' claims, and led to a public repudiation on September 20, 2004: Rather stated, "if I knew then what I know now – I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question,"[1] and CBS News President Andrew Heyward said, "Based on what we now know, CBS News cannot prove that the documents are authentic, which is the only acceptable journalistic standard to justify using them in the report. We should not have used them. That was a mistake, which we deeply regret."[2][3]
The documents have subsequently never been authenticated and are considered by many to be forgeries. No originals have been produced for examination. Several months later, a CBS-appointed independent Panel[4] detailed several serious criticisms of both the initial CBS news segment and CBS' "strident defense" during the aftermath. The findings in the Thornburgh-Boccardi report led to the firing of producer Mary Mapes; several senior News executives resigned, and CBS apologized to viewers. The Panel did not specifically consider the question of whether the documents were forgeries but concluded that the producers had failed to authenticate the documents and cited "substantial questions regarding the authenticity of the Killian documents."
Some Republicans (and others, such as conservative bloggers) claimed CBS was attempting to influence the 2004 US Presidential election and made allegations of political bias on the part of CBS staff. Some Democrats claim the document controversy was engineered to misdirect media attention and undermine legitimate criticism of Bush's service record.