According to Rather, Viacom boss Sumner Redstone, worried about the company's standing in Washington, grew "enraged" over the Bush-story controversy at a board meeting, telling those present that "Dan Rather and anyone associated with Dan Rather has to go."
Rather also said CBS failed to honor the terms of its contract with him. He claims that then-CBS News boss Andrew Heyward, who was named in the suit, held "secret meetings" internally to discuss the anchor's fate. And Rather insisted that, despite executives' claims to the contrary, the network had decided to cancel the weekday edition of "60 Minutes" after its reporting on the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal provoked displeasure from top Bush officials.
To hell with whether the Killian Memos story was true; it didn't matter. To hell with Abu Ghraib; it too didn't matter. What was important was whether CBS could get goodies from Washington.
Howard Kurtz, who peddled so much misinformation about the Killian Memos it was laughable, tries to spin Dan Rather's words.
