A judge has dismissed four of the seven counts in Dan Rather’s $70 million wrongful termination lawsuit against CBS. Gone are charges of fraud; remaining is the contract dispute, where Rather argues he wasn’t used appropriately in his final months as a 60 Minutes correspondent. And this wouldn’t be a Rather lawsuit if it didn’t have counsel battling over what actually happened. Says Rather’s counsel: “Justice Gammerman issued a decision today which leaves in place the entire essence of Mr. Rather’s lawsuit against CBS and Viacom, including both contract and tort claims. Although not every legal theory of the case survives, as a result of the decision, the Court has permitted discovery and a trial of all of the factual issues that form the basis of Mr. Rather’s lawsuit, including his $70 million claim for compensatory and punitive damages. The defendants’ statement that all that is left is a ‘garden variety contract dispute’ is simply inaccurate.”