It’s Day 6 of MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough Speechgate and things are berserk inside the network. A well-placed source tells The Daily Caller‘s Mirror blog that panic is spreading through the offices of MSNBC over recent reports that Scarborough may be pocketing the money he receives from for-profit businesses for high-priced speeches. According to network rules, he’s supposed to be donating at least some of the dough to charity. In many cases, Scarborough earns upwards of $50,000 per speech.
Let’s review. The network fired Keith Olbermann for his attitude and defiance to those in authority, Martin Bashir for saying someone should punish Sarah Palin by defecating in her mouth, and most recently Alec Baldwin for anti-gay slurs. All the firings have been for violating internal policies.
This isn’t the first time Scarborough has been in hot water with the network. In 2010, MSNBC suspended him for two days after he admitted to donating eight contributions of $500 to friends. He had violated NBC’s ban on political contributions without seeking specific permission from the network president.
Does Joe Scarborough think he’s above corporate rules that are in place to ensure viewers that there are no major conflicts of interest going on? What are they going to say about him now? MSNBC suits are already angry about how many days of “Morning Joe” the host has missed to deliver these high-paid speeches. If he gave the money to charity, which ones and how much did he donate? Is there evidence, a tax return? Let’s see them already – what’s the holdup?
Scarborough is upset, so much so that when the story first surfaced on Monday, he called in sick to work. According to well-placed sources, the network is taking the matter very seriously. So where is MSNBC’s response? More importantly, where is the response of Comcast, MSNBC’s corporate parent, to conflict of interest charges?
We’re anxiously awaiting answers, as are a number of other news outlets that have run stories on the matter, including Daily Mail, Drudge Report and Mediaite.
