A conundrum at NBC News:

My guess is that NBC News is deeply divided on the Scooter Libby trial. Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and David Shuster are undoubtedly rooting for convictions on all five formal charges and maybe a few more – David Shuster is probably right now working on a report describing how the jurors convicted Libby, exchanged high fives, then dropped their own unpaid parking tickets on the defense table as they walked out. However, the cooler heads at NBC (i.e., everyone else) are probably crossing their fingers and hoping for acquittals all around, most especially on the counts involving Tim Russert. Otherwise, the defense will appeal, Judge Walton’s decision to keep Andrea Mitchell out of the trial will be a basis for the appeal, and NBC News will have to “report” on the Tim Russert situation for months to come. This will be especially difficult for David Gregory, erstwhile “newsman”, who has been duct-taped by the NBC lawyers and not allowed to comment on whether Ari Fleischer, a key witness against Libby, lacks credibility.

This has been a problem for mainstream media outlets since the CIA leak case began. Liberals in the media have cheered on this investigation of the Bush White House even as it wreaked havoc on the public’s perception of the press. Meanwhile, NRO’s Andy McCarthy discovered, their companies’ lawyers were working behind the scenes to undermine the investigation by trying to keep journalists’ testimony off-limits and by arguing that there was no underlying crime (i.e. that Valerie Plame was not covert).