[9] The 60 Minutes report charged that Bush, the son of an ambassador, congressman and future president, had received preferential treatment in passing over hundreds of applicants In applying to the Texas Air National Guard.

The panel in charge of investigation was composed of Dick Thornburgh, former governor of Pennsylvania and United States Attorney General in the George H. W. Bush administration, and Louis Boccardi, retired president and CEO of the Associated Press.

Mapes was criticized for failing to air them in the 60 Minutes report to balance the allegation that Bush had applied for service in the Guard to avoid serving in Vietnam.

[12] Mapes was also faulted for calling Joe Lockhart, a senior official in the John Kerry campaign, prior to the airing of the piece, and offering to put her source, Bill Burkett, in touch with him.

"[16] The panel proclaimed that at least four factors contributed to the decision to broadcast the report: "The combination of a new 60 Minutes Wednesday management team, great deference given to a highly respected producer and the network's news anchor, competitive pressures, and a zealous belief in the truth of the segment".

[16] The panel also stated that it "cannot conclude that a political agenda at 60 Minutes Wednesday drove either the timing of the airing of the segment or its content.

[17] Rove called Mapes' work "the gift that keeps on giving" due to the story's lurid foundations and the apparent boost it gave to President Bush during his reelection campaign.

[26] It was adapted into the 2015 film Truth, about the Killian documents controversy, starring Cate Blanchett as Mapes and Robert Redford as Dan Rather.

[27] In the aftermath of the Rathergate scandal, Mapes started work as a writer and a consultant, contributing to the news magazine The Nation in 2007 and 2008.