Another day, another leaked log on the fire of the end of Brian Williams’ career. The latest leak went to the Washington Post’s Paul Farhi, who learned Saturday that the ongoing internal NBC investigation into Williams’ serial-embellishments has thus far dug up 11 instances where the suspended-NBC Nightly News anchor said something that wasn’t true.
A months-long internal investigation of Brian Williams by NBC News has turned up 11 instances in which the anchorman publicly embellished details of his reporting exploits, according to a person familiar with details of the probe. …
NBC executives met in a conference room Thursday morning at the network’s Rockefeller Center headquarters for a briefing about the investigation. The meeting included the three executives likely to determine Williams’ fate at the network: NBC Universal chief executive Steve Burke, NBC News chairman Andrew Lack and NBC News president Deborah Turness.
An NBC News spokesperson declined comment on Friday. Williams’ attorney, Robert Barnett of Washington, did not respond to a request for comment.
Apparently, all but one of the 11 embellishments have already been reported, including the anchorman’s claim of being shot down over Iraq and his claim about a near-miss by Hezbollah rockets during a 2006 helicopter ride.
The NBC investigation did find one new incident. During a 2011 appearance on The Daily Show, Williams claimed to have seen pro-government forces beat protesters in Egypt. Williams said he had “actually made eye contact with the man on the lead horse.” The NBC investigation considers that claim suspect.
This leak, along with the humiliating leaks to Vanity Fair earlier this month, are almost certainly someone’s way — someone at a pretty high level at NBC News — of ensuring the disgraced anchorman does not return. Currently, Williams is almost halfway through a 6 month suspension that is supposed to end in August.
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