NBC tries to be forthcoming about Russert

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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/1304...

NEW YORK - NBC News says it has tried to be thoroughly forthcoming about Tim Russert's role in the CIA leak case but has not told its most visible Washington correspondent to avoid discussing the ongoing political scandal.

"There is no need for him to recuse himself," acting NBC News president Steve Capus said Monday. "Tim Russert is not on trial."

A conversation between Russert and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, is central to the case against Libby, who was indicted Friday for lying to FBI agents and a federal grand jury. Libby said he learned the identity of a covert CIA officer married to a Bush administration critic from Russert; NBC's chief Washington correspondent said they never discussed it. snip

Still, it put NBC News in a delicate situation. Normally, a reporter's involvement in a news story would lead a news organization to assign others to discuss the story; yet the story has taken on an importance to the administration that it's hard for a Washington correspondent of Russert's influence to avoid it.

Taking Russert off the story would be "penalizing a man needlessly," Capus said.