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| Calls to Fire Brian Williams Now |
The New York Post, citing sources at the network, reported that Brokaw, 74, has been "making a lot of noise at NBC that a lesser journalist or producer would have been immediately fired or suspended for a false report."
Brokaw was the anchor at the time of William's false report, or lie, about Iraq. "In it, Williams described how he was traveling in a group of helicopters forced down in the Iraq desert.
On the ground, Williams said, he learned the Chinook in front of him "had almost been blown out of the sky"; he showed a photo of the aircraft with a gash from a rocket-propelled grenade." Williams took over at the network in 2004.
Williams also recounted his "Iraq Story" in a 2008 blog post, claiming he was in a helicopter that was hit by an RPG. He also went on Letterman in 2013 saying that two of the four helicopters were hit with ground fire "including the one I was in."
On Wednesday, Williams recanted that story, claiming that he was flying in a Chinook helicopter behind the formation that took fire.
However, on Thursday, the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, which broke the story, reported that Williams was actually flying with a different helicopter company altogether, in a different direction, and linked to the attacked unit only by radio.And the story gets stranger:
Adding to the intrigue, the Post reported that Brokaw and former NBC News president Steve Capus, who left the network in 2013, knew that Williams' updated version of his tale was not true before the anchor's admission Wednesday evening.
The paper also says NBC News executives had counseled Williams to stop telling the story.A source says that NBC News will take no action against Williams for lying.
"He is not going to be suspended or reprimanded in any way," one source told the paper. "He has the full support of NBC News."
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