Scott Pelley isn't one to ease into a new job.
The new host of "CBS Evening News" takes over the anchor chair Monday in the midst of a simmering fight with a beloved American icon, thanks to his "60 Minutes" report that suggested doping by Lance Armstrong.
Reporting the story two weeks before he took over as anchor was daring timing for Pelley, especially since the past anchor with whom he shares the most similarities, Dan Rather, stepped down as anchor after an investigation of President George W. Bush overreached.
The outcry over that report, which used fabricated documents to challenge Bush's military record, led to Rather's replacement by Bob Schieffer. He was replaced by Katie Couric, who now passes on the job to Pelley.
Also read: '60 Minutes' to Lance Armstrong: No Apology for 'Truthful' Doping Story
Both Pelley and Rather are white, Texas-born news veterans with reputations as reporter's reporters, eager to take on sacred cows -- including those from their own home state.
But Rather's role in the Bush investigation hurt his once-impeccable reputation, while Pelley's reporting in the Armstrong case has for the moment only helped his. CBS News is standing by the story, which CBS News chairman Jeff Fager calls "truthful, accurate, and fair."
Fager has rejected a call from Armstrong's legal team for an on-air apology.
Armstrong's lawyers, meanwhile, tell TheWrap they may sue over the "60 Minutes" report.
"It certainly raises significant questions about the quality of his reporting, there's no question about that," said Mark Fabiani, one of Armstrong's attorneys. Of CBS' vigorous defense of the story, he added: "They're forced to do it because he's a prominent anchor."
Read also: Rather's $70 Million Suit Against CBS Thrown Out
In a letter to CBS News this week, Armstrong's San Francisco-based legal team called Pelley's story, "either extraordinarily shoddy, to the point of being reckless and unprofessional, or a vicious hit-and-run job."
But Pelley isn't known for either kind of reporting. Since he joined "60 Minutes" in 2004, half of all the major awards won by the broadcast have been for stories he reported. (A CBS News representative said Pelley was preparing for his first "Evening News" broadcast and unavailable for an interview.)
With the Armstrong story, the revered cyclist's lawyers contend, Pelley has gone too far.
The seven-time winner of the prestigious Tour de France bike race has been under a cloud of suspicion over blood doping for years.
Hamilton said in the May 22 report that Armstrong tested positive for the banned substance EPO during the 2001 Tour de Suisse.
Armstrong's attorneys vehemently deny an allegation raised in the "60 Minutes" report by a former teammate of Armstrong's, Tyler Hamilton, who has twice tested positive for performance- enhancing substances.
So far Armstrong's attorneys haven't found a non-smoking gun to prove his innocence: Only their client, and precious few others, know precisely what did or didn't happen, and you can't prove a negative.
