From the CBS report, this is damning:

pp. 26-28.

The Contact With the Kerry Campaign

Another troubling aspect of the September 8 Segment emerged in the public disclosure on September 21 that Mapes had been in contact with Joe Lockhart, a senior staff member of the Kerry presidential campaign, in connection with the production of the Segment. Mapes told the Panel that before Lieutenant Colonel Burkett turned over any of the documents, he had pressed her to arrange for him to be put in touch with someone from the Kerry presidential campaign so
that he could provide the campaign with strategic advice on how to rebut the attacks by the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” group. Mapes told the Panel that she did not know anyone from the Kerry campaign, but got Lockhart’s telephone number from Chad Clanton, a Kerry campaign official who had been quoted by Mapes’ husband, a newspaper reporter, in an article on an unrelated matter.

Mapes also told the Panel that before calling Lockhart, she discussed this request with Howard and that he approved the contact. Mapes said that Howard had reasoned that reporters exchange information from various sources and this request was not problematic. Howard, however, told the Panel a very different version of this conversation and said that he clearly informed Mapes that it would be inappropriate to intervene with Lockhart or anyone else associated with the Kerry campaign on Lieutenant Colonel Burkett’s behalf.

Mapes further told the Panel that at some point prior to September 8 she spoke to Lockhart. According to Mapes, Lockhart called her and the conversation lasted only approximately two minutes. Mapes told the Panel that she merely informed Lockhart that Lieutenant Colonel Burkett wanted to speak with him. She did not think she described Lieutenant Colonel Burkett as a source or that the subject of the documents ever came up during the call.

Lockhart told the Panel a contrasting version of this conversation. Lockhart said that Clanton, who reported to Lockhart, had asked Lockhart to take a call from Mapes about a story she was working on related to President Bush’s TexANG service. Lockhart told the Panel that Clanton said that the story involved documents and that a call from Lockhart to a 60 Minutes Wednesday source who wanted input into the Kerry campaign might assist 60 Minutes Wednesday in obtaining the documents from the source. Lockhart was reluctant to speak with
Mapes given that he did not want to give the impression that the campaign was assisting on the matter. Lockhart said that he agreed to speak with Mapes only after he was assured by Clanton that Mapes already had obtained the documents in question and that the reporting stage of the story was complete.
Lockhart informed the Panel that Mapes called him on the evening of Saturday,
September 4.

Lockhart said that she told him that she had lined up an interview with Ben Barnes and had obtained documents that had been authenticated by some number of experts. Lockhart stated that Mapes said that there may be more documents and Mapes asked him to call Lieutenant Colonel Burkett, whom she described as a source for the story. Lockhart said that it was his impression that a call to Lieutenant Colonel Burkett could be helpful in obtaining the
additional documents.

Lockhart told the Panel that he did not immediately call Lieutenant Colonel Burkett as he recognized it could be perceived negatively. However, he ultimately changed his mind and spoke to him on Monday, September 6, by which time Mapes had received the rest of the Killian documents. Lockhart said the call lasted less than five minutes and that Lieutenant Colonel Burkett gave his opinion on how the campaign should address the Swift Boat issue. Lockhart stated that he said very little during the call and the subject of documents never came up.

The Panel is unable to resolve definitively the conflict between the accounts of Howard and Mapes concerning whether permission was given to speak with a representative of the Kerry campaign in connection with the TexANG story. Whether or not permission was given to Mapes, the Panel finds this contact to be highly inappropriate. The September 8 Segment had a strong political focus and it was to air in the middle of a hotly contested presidential campaign.

While it is certainly proper to receive information from a variety of sources, this contact crossed the line as, at a minimum, it gave the appearance of a political bias and could have been perceived as a news organization’s assisting a campaign as opposed to reporting on a story.

***
You think?

Update: See new post above…The Mapes-Hackworth-Memogate-Abu Ghraib Connection

Update II : Paul at Wizbang notes Mapes’ interaction with moonbat bloggers.

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