Rather files $70 million lawsuit against CBS

Rather claimed in the suit that his departure was ultimately caused by Viacom Chairman Redstone, who found it best for the company to curry favor with the Bush administration by damaging Rather. An “enraged” Redstone said the newsman and anyone associated with him had to go, according to the lawsuit.

Richard Thornburgh, the former U.S. attorney general who made up the two-man investigative panel with Louis D. Boccardi, the retired chief executive of The Associated Press, said he was unaware of Rather’s lawsuit.

Reached at his home in Washington, Thornburgh said only: “Our report speaks for itself.”

Boccardi did not return messages left by The Associated Press.

Issued in January 2005, the 224-page report portrayed Rather as “pushed to the limit” with other stories at the time of the “60 Minutes Wednesday” report. He relied on a trusted producer and didn’t check the story for accuracy or, apparently, even see it before he introduced it on the program, the panel said.

CBS rushed the story on the air and then blindly defended it when holes became apparent, said the panel, which was unable to say conclusively whether memos disparaging Bush’s service were real or fake.

The fired CBS News producer, Mary Mapes, later wrote that the panel’s examination of the story “read more like a prosecutorial brief than an independent investigation.” Her book surrounding the controversy was published in 2005.

Rather, who didn’t return messages Wednesday, worked at CBS News starting in 1962, then replaced Walter Cronkite in 1981 as “CBS Evening News” anchorman until signing off March 9, 2005.

He always considered himself a reporter first, and the habit of news anchors to travel to the scene of big stories is largely his legacy. His interview with Saddam Hussein in 2003 was the last given by the Iraqi leader before he was toppled.

With his intense on-air demeanor, Rather also had his detractors, and his broadcast was a distant third in the evening news ratings when he stepped down. CBS News’ ratings rebounded under short-term successor Bob Schieffer, but they have plummeted under Katie Couric, who took over the broadcast in September 2006.

Rather has moved on to a weekly news show on cable’s HDNet channel, “Dan Rather Reports,” but the effort has garnered little attention. When the show launched, it was available in only 4 million homes, a small fraction of his potential audience while at CBS.

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