Rather lawsuit says he was 'scapegoat'

NEW YORK - A $70 million lawsuit filed by Dan Rather alleges CBS and its former parent company intentionally botched the aftermath of a discredited story about President Bush's military service to curry favor with the administration.

The lawsuit claims Rather was made a "scapegoat" to placate the Bush
administration after questions arose about the story, which concerned
President Bush's military service during the Vietnam War.

Rather narrated the September 2004 report that said Bush disobeyed
orders and shirked some of his duties during his National Guard service
and that a commander felt pressured to sugarcoat Bush's record.

In
his lawsuit, Rather maintains the story was true but says if any aspect
of the broadcast was not accurate, he was not responsible for the
errors. By forcing Rather to apologize publicly, "CBS intentionally
caused the public and the media to attribute CBS' alleged bungling of
the episode to Mr. Rather," the lawsuit claimed.