MSNBC suspends Olbermann over political donations

Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC's "Countdown," the channel's most popular program, was abruptly suspended by the network Friday for making contributions to political candidates.

A spokesman referred questions to a statement released Friday by MSNBC president Phil Griffin, who said, "I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay." Griffin declined to comment further, and a call to Olbermann's Manhattan residence was not returned.

Reports of Olbermann's contributions first surfaced on Politico.com. The website said Olbermann gave $2,400 each to the campaigns of Kentucky Democrat Jack Conway, a Senate candidate, and Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords, both Arizona Democrats in House races. According to Politico, Grijalva, who had supported a boycott of Arizona businesses because of the new immigration law, had been a frequent guest on "Countdown."

In a statement to Politico before his suspension, Olbermann said: "I did not privately or publicly encourage anyone else to donate to these campaigns, nor to any others in this election or any previous ones, nor have I previously donated to any political campaign at any level."

Though Olbermann is outspoken in his views - he's devoted entire editions of "Countdown" to monologues in support of President Barack Obama's health care initiative and bashes Fox News on a near-nightly basis - each of the broadcast network news divisions prohibits campaign donations by on-air news correspondents and anchors.

On the Web and Twitter on Friday, supporters and critics of MSNBC's action cited discrepancies, including past campaign contributions by MSNBC host Joe Scarborough.