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CBS News president Andrew Heyward and 60 Minutes anchor Dan Rather said a retired Texas National Guard officer had ''deliberately misled" the network about military documents which indicated that Bush was favored due to his political connections.
Lieutenant Colonel Bill Burkett told CBS that he had obtained the documents from a fellow Guardsman, but later, when pressured to reveal his source, said he had lied.
Apologising on air last night, Rather said Burkett has since provided ''a different source, one we cannot verify."
''At the time, CBS News and this reporter fully believed the documents were genuine. Tonight, after further investigation, we can no longer vouch for their authenticity. . . . I want to say personally and directly -- I'm sorry."
CBS has said it was commissioning an independent panel to investigate the incident which is expected to further erode public faith in the media, already shaken by reports of fake stories in the New York Times and USA Today.
The White House too seemed somewhat unforgiving.
"We appreciate that they deeply regret it," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "But there are serious questions that still need to be answered." These include why CBS would depend on Burkett, known to be longtime critic of Bush, for such allegations.
The documents reportedly include memos written in the early 1970s by late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian, who was Bush's commander. 60 Minutes ran excerpts which had Killian stating he had ''suspended" Bush from flight status for and that he was pressured by superior to ''sugarcoat" his negative evaluations.
Killian's secretary at the time, Marian Carr Knox, said last week that the documents seemed like forgeries, though Killian did express concerns about Bush.