Dan Rather Sues CBS for $70 Million

Dan Rather is suing his former network over the aftermath of his flawed report on President Bush's National Guard service. The September 2004 story produced for the newsmagazine 60 Minutes II led to Rather's departure from the CBS Evening News anchor chair in March 2005. Now working at the cable outlet HDNet, Rather has filed a $70 million lawsuit, which names CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone and former CBS News president Andrew Heyward as plaintiffs. The suit claims the network violated his contract by not giving him a more prominent role on 60 Minutes. Rather's last deal with CBS News stipulated that when he left the Evening News anchor chair he would be the lead correspondent for 60 Minutes II. Once that program was canceled, Rather joined the signature edition of the newsmagazine on Sunday, where he was to be a regular correspondent. The lawsuit says he was used far less than the other correspondents on the broadcast. The suit also criticizes the internal investigation into the 60 Minutes II story, which revisited allegations that President Bush received preferential treatment when he served in the National Guard during the Vietnam War. Rather also says in the suit that he disagreed with the decision to give an on-air apology - written by the network's corporate communications department - on the CBS Evening News. CBS issued a statement saying "these complaints are old news and the lawsuit is without merit." Rather is scheduled to appear on CNN's Larry King Live Thursday night to discuss the lawsuit. - Reporting by Stephen Battaglio