In addition to challenging the central premise of the CBS report - that his father felt pressured to cover up Bush's allegedly subpar Guard performance - Gary Killian urged Mapes to interview Dean Roome, who roomed with Bush during his time in the Guard.

Ms. Mapes explained that "60 Minutes" had already conducted the interview but was unlikely to include Roome's account in its report, telling Killian Jr.: "We think he is pretty pro-Bush."

Killian detailed his interview with Mapes to ABC radio host Sean Hannity on Friday, explaining that both he and his stepmother had been contacted by "60 Minutes."

But like Roome, their comments wound up on the cutting room floor.

"She wanted to interview me about my dad and how he felt about George Bush," he told Hannity. "Then she proceeded to ask me about documents."

Killian quoted the "60 Minutes" producer as saying, "We're trying to get our hands on some documents that your dad supposedly wrote that were not very flattering towards then-Lieutenant Bush."

Killian recalled that he immediately questioned whether his father would have written the critical comments, telling Hannity that he knew his father actually admired Bush because "we talked about it."

Killian Jr. even warned "60 Minutes" that any documents purporting otherwise were likely to be of questionable origin.

"I don't know of any such documents. Dad didn't keep any home office or anything like that. ... There were no secret files, there were no off-campus files. Any files that my father would have kept would have been in his office."

"60 Minutes" also contacted his stepmother, Killian said, who told Rather's crew that her late husband had great admiration for Bush.

Mrs. Killian has since challenged the authenticity of the CBS documents, saying her husband didn't even know how to type.

An astonished Hannity asked, "You said this to '60 Minutes' and they didn't include any of this in their report?"

"That's correct," Killian responded.

Ironically, while Gary Killian was on the air with Hannity, CBS issued a statement that claimed interviews conducted by Rather's team "with former Texas National Guard officials and individuals who worked closely back in the early 1970s with Colonel Jerry Killian and were well acquainted with his procedures, his character and his thinking" corroborated their questionable documents.

Editor's note: