The Killian documents controversy (also referred to as Memogate or Rathergate) involved six purported documents critical of U.S. President George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard in 1972–73. Four of these documents were presented as authentic in a 60 Minutes II broadcast aired by CBS on September 8, 2004, less than two months before the 2004 Presidential Election, but it was later found that CBS had failed to authenticate the documents. Subsequently, several typewriter and typography experts concluded the documents were blatant forgeries. No forensic document examiners or typography experts have authenticated the documents, and this may not be technically possible without the original documents. The purveyor of the documents, Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, claims to have burned the orig