Judge Says Dan Rather's CBS Lawsuit Will Not Be Dismissed
 Monday, March 17th, 2008

This month on The View with Barbara Walters, legendary former 60 Minutes anchor and journalist Dan Rather gave an update on the progress of his $70 million lawsuit against CBS Corp.:  "I'm going to get to the bottom of the story," Rather said.  "There's a great story that has not been told, and I found myself the only way to get it is get people with their hands up...under oath."  CBS thus far has dismissed press about the suit, calling it "old news," with CBS' attorneys filing multiple motions to dismiss the case.  Actually, currently developing into a full-blown trial, the news is as current as it gets.  And we've got an exclusive update for you on a statement by Rather's legal counsel today regarding the most recent decision of the court.

"Today, Judge Gammerman re-affirmed that Mr. Rather's lawsuit will not be dismissed, that he expects to issue a written opinion on defendants' motion to dismiss within the next few weeks, and that, accordingly, discovery will proceed," Gary Meyerhoff of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal said.  "The Judge also heard brief argument on certain document disputes."

CBS Corp. attempted to get communications between Eric Rigler--a former FBI agent turned private investigator--and themselves ruled "privileged" information, but after Rather's counsel opposed, Judge Gammerman requested that the documents be delivered to the Court for its review.

"Mr. Rather's counsel also requested that defendants identify the names of employees whose documents were searched in response to Mr. Rather's requests," the statement continued.  "And, after brief argument, the defendants agreed to do so.  Defendants' counsel demanded to know when Mr. Rather would begin producing documents that they had requested, and Mr. Rather's counsel responded that production would begin next week."

Will this trial get the media publicity it so deserves?  That remains to be seen.  But if THEY won't tell you, WE will!

As Rather said earlier this month of the CBS / President George W. Bush / National Guard scandal (aka "Rathergate") that led to Rather's early termination, "The core of this lawsuit is to bring out what I know to be the truth, having been there for as long as I was - which is, there's been a growing influence of big corporate power in working with big Washington power, having too much influence in the newsrooms."

Comments > >