Dan Rather interviews former Texas lieutenant governor Ben Barnes as part of the investigation of Bush's service in the Guard.
		60 Minutes via AP

Wednesday, Sept. 8

6:30 p.m. (all times Eastern): On the CBS Evening News, anchor Dan Rather previews that night's 60 Minutes program: "CBS News has exclusive information, including documents ... (that) indicate Mr. Bush may have received preferential treatment in the Guard after not fulfilling his commitments." Rather says the "government documents ... are from the personal files of the late Col. Jerry Killian, Bush's squadron commander."

Also at 6:30 p.m.: The White House releases a transcript of a CBS interview with communications director Dan Bartlett, part of which appeared on the CBS Evening News Bartlett does not challenge the documents' authenticity but says the controversy is nothing more than "partisan politics."

6:45 p.m.: Bartlett tells USA TODAY White House reporter Judy Keen, "President Bush met his military obligations and rightfully received an honorable discharge (from the Guard). While the official records show the facts, no one can read the mind of a dead man (Killian) who wrote memos to himself 32 years ago."

8 p.m.: 60 Minutes airs. Midway through his 12½-minute report, Rather comes to "a number of documents we are told were taken from Col. Killian's personal file." He says 60 Minutes consulted a "handwriting analyst and document expert who believes the material is authentic."

9:15 p.m.: USA TODAY reporter Dave Moniz meets with former National Guard lieutenant colonel Bill Burkett, who will be revealed later as CBS' source for the memos and whom Moniz had dealt with on previous stories related to the National Guard. Burkett gives Moniz copies of the same documents he gave CBS. Moniz faxes them to USA TODAY's Washington bureau. Copies are also faxed to USA TODAY headquarters in McLean, Va.

USA TODAY editors, as they plan the next day's story and discuss how much weight to give the documents, rely in part on 60 Minutes' reporting and on Bartlett's comment about "a dead man who wrote memos to himself." USA TODAY faxes the documents to a person familiar with Guard personnel practices and files. She says it was not unusual for Guard commanders to write such memos, but could not offer additional authentication.

9:30 p.m.: The White House e-mails copies of the four memos in the 60 Minutes report to reporters and editors across the country. The date "09/07/2004" and the words "CBS News" are at the top of each page, indicating they are copies that CBS faxed to the White House the previous day.

Through the night: Internet "bloggers" dissect the 60 Minutes report. Many say the memos look like they were done using a modern computer that didn't exist in 1972 or 1973.

Thursday, Sept. 9

Daybreak: The 60 Minutes report is front-page news in The New York Times and The Washington Post. USA TODAY spreads its story across nearly two-thirds of one page inside its news section and notes that it, too, obtained the memos. There is no discussion in the major news media about whether the memos are authentic.

7:51 a.m.: Powerlineblog.com, the Internet site that has received much of the credit for calling attention to signs that the documents might be forgeries, posts a long analysis of them.

Friday, Sept. 10

Daybreak:The New York Times runs a story (on Page 17) headlined, "Commander's Son Questions Memos on Bush's Service." TheWashington Post headlines a front-page article, "Some Question Authenticity of Papers on Bush." USA TODAY publishes a five-paragraph story headlined, "Officer's son questions Bush memo." Rather says on CNN: "The story is true. The story is true." That day, USA TODAY editors assign reporters to expand the story and investigate the memos' authenticity.

6:30 p.m.: On the CBS Evening News, Rather gives a six-minute defense of the 60 Minutes report. He says many of the story's critics are "partisan political operatives."

Monday, Sept. 13

Daybreak: USA TODAY, pulling from the work of six reporters, publishes a lengthy look into the documents' credibility. "Two retired FBI forensic document examiners who studied the memos at USA TODAY's request said Sunday that they probably are forgeries," the story says. The story also notes that some other experts said that typewriters in use in the early 1970s might have been able to create such documents.

6:30 p.m.: On the CBS Evening News, Rather says, "CBS used several techniques to make sure these papers should be taken seriously."

Tuesday, Sept. 14

6:30 p.m.: On ABC's World News Tonight, two experts whom CBS confirms it consulted before the 60 Minutes broadcast say they warned the network that the documents could be forgeries. CBS says later that it also consulted other experts and that the two who were quoted on ABC did not register strong objections.

7 p.m.: Bloggers call attention to TheDallas Morning News Web site (www .dallasnews.com). A story there says Killian's former secretary, Marian Carr Knox, thinks the documents are fakes. But she also says that they reflect what Killian thought about Bush and that he kept files with similar notes.

Wednesday, Sept. 15

Daybreak: Knox is prominent in newspaper stories across the country, on blogs all over the Web and in TV and radio reports. USA TODAY, which tried but failed to reach her the night before, reports what she's been saying and says her son Pat Carr, whom the newspaper reached, confirmed her comments.

6:50 p.m.: CBS News President Andrew Heyward says on the CBS Evening News, "We established to our satisfaction that the memos were accurate or we would not have put them on television." But he says CBS will "redouble" its efforts to authenticate the memos.

8 p.m.: On 60 Minutes, Rather says, "Another voice — a credible voice — has entered the debate." He interviews Knox. She tells him that she did not type the memos and believes they are forgeries, but that "the information in those is correct."

Thursday, Sept. 16

Daybreak: "Rather Concedes Papers Are Suspect," a Washington Post front-page headline reads.

Afternoon: Moniz and USA TODAY reporter Kevin Johnson begin a series of interviews with Burkett over five days. Burkett provides additional details on the condition that the newspaper's earlier promise of confidentiality be maintained, saying he expects CBS to identify him in a 60 Minutes interview Sunday. No interview is broadcast, and he waives that confidentiality agreement with USA TODAY on Monday.

Monday

12:15 p.m.: In a statement e-mailed to reporters, CBS reveals who provided the documents. The network says Burkett admits he "deliberately misled" CBS producer Mary Mapes by telling her that he got the documents from another ex-Guardsman.

1:25 p.m.: Rather, in a statement e-mailed to reporters, says he is sorry for "a mistake in judgment."

6:30 p.m.: On the CBS Evening News, Rather presents an interview with Burkett in which the former Guard officer admits he misled CBS researchers but also says he "insisted" that they authenticate the memos before using them in a story. Rather apologizes again, saying. "I'm sorry." He says CBS is launching an investigation of its work on the story.