"Refute" versus "Rebut"

[James A. Landau]

<quote>
MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN, AP

NEW YORK (Sept. 3) - A week of rallies, marches and nearly 1,800 arrests left
anti-Bush protesters drained and the city refuting allegations that
demonstrators were held too long in police custody. <snip>
</quote?

I was always taught that "rebut" was an action you took, to deny or counter
what someone else said, and "refute" was an a posteriori judgement as to
whether your rebuttal was effective.  But I seem to be seeing more and more often
that "refute" is used to mean "rebut", as in the above quote.

     - Jim Landau