But now questions about his financial reckoning regarding his expense accounts, where there's smoke there's fire, puts him in too deep to be salvaged.
So, NBC knew about his lying to America, but they were OK with that. Now, they’re trying to weasel out of paying him? Classy act, that NBC.
BW must have pissed some very high level people off.
I wonder what he did.
Maybe he flew to close to the sun.
But they are really going after him, and that is not the usual MO of the Dem-media complex.
The Left could care less if BW was telling the truth, he is, and always has been a useful idiot.
But somehow, in the inner circle, he made an enemy or enemies at a high level.
The faux-apology is usually all that would be needed.
But that did not suffice in this case.
That alone is intriguing.
When you think about it, he only gets paid $7500 an hour, so he’s justified in fudging his accounting for walking-around money.
The expense account inquiry is the final nail in the coffin. When the network accountants start digging through his charges on the NBC credit card, you know they’re looking for something that can be used to support his dismissal—and avoid any settlement on the remainder of his contract.
As David Burge (IowaHawk) observed on his Twitter account: “$19.95 hotel porn bill about to save NBC $50 million on severance pay” https://twitter.com/iowahawkblog
I’ve seen this tactic used in both the military and the private sector. When a senior official is in trouble (and the organization wants to get rid of them), start digging through the credit card receipts. If someone will lie about other events (say, you exploits as a war correspondent), it’s a fair bet you will misuse the company card.
How ironic; when Williams was on top, he probably had an unlimited expense account, and no one at NBC cared if he used it to buy lunch every day at the priciest eatery in New York, or rented a battalion of hookers during his most recent overseas reporting gig. But now that he’s in trouble, every charge is fair game.
Later this spring, Williams will be summoned for an “off-site” meeting with NBC management, led by Steve Burke. He will be presented the results of the lie inquiry and the credit card investigation. Mr. Williams will be reminded that misuse of his expense account is grounds for immediate termination. At that point, he will be given the option of resigning (and if he’s lucky, with a very modest settlement on his contract).
If he balks, NBC will threaten to disclose all that was uncovered during the inquiry, jeopardizing Williams’s prospects of future employment in the media. Where it goes from there will be up to Williams and his attorneys, but if NBC is already in a solid legal position.
It’s also worth noting that the decisions about Williams are now being made by Steve Burke, the Comcast exec who also runs NBC. Deborah Turness, the president of NBC News, was given a chance to take control of the situation, but she dithered. Burke decided to suspend Williams for six months—not Turness, and you can bet he’s the same guy who has the accounting department looking through years of credit card receipts.
I’ve been out of broadcasting for a long time, but still have a few friends in the business. The industry is run—now more than ever—by a bunch of cut-throats, and the Comcast crew is at the top of the list. When something or someone becomes a major liability, they start looking for ways to cut their losses, and quickly.
6 months off. He won’t return, this is a six month exit plan.
Then, too, there might well be genuine expense account issues. How sad is it when everyone's first reaction is that they're lying and using that as an excuse? How sad is it that we're probably right?
Brian Williams’s lies weren’t small... the lies showed total contempt for the American people, for NBC, and for his profession.
A man who has that kind of disdain for the rights of others won’t stop at simple lies. There’s more. And more within NBC...