CBS Report Legal Checklist for Scylla&Charybdis readers:
1. Withholding under "Privilege." If some or all of the full report is withheld due to "privilege," it means that CBS doesn't want the full report to be subject to subpoena in a lawsuit. This implies some lawsuit is possible, and facts want to be kept confidential. What facts, and what type of lawsuit?
2. CBS Legal Liability. Potential lawsuits against CBS include regulatory, civil and criminal. Will the Report omit all relevant details, under claim of "privilege," because of this exposure?
3. "Personal Files." This phrase was inserted somewhere between forgery and broadcast, likely by a lawyer who realized that under the Texas forgery statute, passing or publishing 2 or more fake 'government records' is a felony. Solution? Pretend these fake government records are from "personal files." No government files, no felony. Find where that got inserted, and you've fingered a criminal intent. (Did CBS lawyers insert the phrase?) Thornburgh is aware of the issue (so too are various Texas prosecutors...). Will the report whitewash it?
4. The Viacom Rulebook. Viacom employee rules prohibit pretty much everything that is alleged to have happened in Memogate (assisting a political campaign; compliance with law; conflicts of interest). Will these be addressed, or do "journalists" get a free pass?
5. Tampering. Will the Report address tampering issues involved CBS having allowed Mapes to continue to produce cover-up segments, particularly the old lady Knox segment? Or any detailed analysis of the genesis of the numerous false statements, etc., by all levels of CBS employees, during the 11 days of cover-up by CBS?
6. CBS Legal Oversight During Coverup. For 11 days, 60 Minutes, CBS News, and the CBS Press Office defended the story by attacking critics, making misleading and false statements about the vetting process, etc. Will the report address the role of the CBS attorneys in such actions during the 11-day process?
7. Re-Organization of CBS Legal. In addition to the journalism lapses (or worse), the legal lapses by the CBS Legal Department were malpractice(or worse) in any other realm. It is also possible that warnings by CBS Legal were overruled by political desires to run the anti-Bush story. Will the role of CBS Legal be reorganized re: the news division? |
