Burkett 'WARNED' Rather

According to this story, Dan Rather knew from the start that there were potential problems with the documents.

Former National Guard commander Bill Burkett said Monday night that he warned producers at CBS that they needed to authenticate documents he gave them that were critical of President Bush's National Guard record - because he couldn't guarantee they were real. [Emphasis mine - ed.]

"Before I gave up any documents I wanted to know what you were going to do with them," Burkett told CBS anchorman Dan Rather. "And I insisted that they be authenticated."

Rather admitted that CBS had failed to heed their primary source's warning.

So, it appears that Dan Rather opted to go with the story when he had many indications, including the source, that the documents were not authentic. Rather seems to be the only person that had any confidence in the authenticity of the documents while being the person least familiar with their content.

This whole situation is becoming difficult to fathom. You need to resign, Dan. You've obviously lost it. (via Ace of Spades HQ)