While the panel said it was not prepared to brand the Killian documents as an outright forgery, it raised serious questions about their authenticity and the way CBS News handled them.

The panel called Mapes’ action a “clear conflict of interest that created the appearance of political bias.”

"the ferocity of the assaults on the documents"

"The attacks on the September 8 Segment began virtually immediately."

"This was followed on the morning of September 9 by further attacks, mostly by bloggers with a conservative agenda,"

"the onslaught of attacks"

"The initial attacks"

"The attacks on the September 8 Segment continued"

"In response to these growing attacks,"