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NBC launches internal probe of Brian Williams’ wild stories

NBC News has launched an all-out probe into star anchor Brian Williams’ Iraq reporting — and other tall tales he may have told.

A special team of producers and news reporters has been assigned to investigate the network’s big-bucks journalist after he claimed he was on a helicopter forced down by enemy fire while covering the Iraq war in 2003 — when he was actually traveling safely on another chopper.

Now Williams is also on the hot seat over claims over his work in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, when he said he watched dead bodies floating near his French Quarter hotel.

Williams publicly copped to the Iraq fib after being caught — but not without first trying to bring down some co-workers with him, sources told The Post on Friday.

During his on-air apology Wednesday night, Williams wanted to say the story was “a bungled attempt by us to thank one special veteran,” sources said. But some of his co-workers revolted just before the broadcast, insisting that he change it to “a bungled attempt by me,” the sources said.

Williams made the switch.

NBC News President Deborah Turness announced in an e-mail to employees Friday that the division would be putting its star under the microscope.

Deborah Turness

“As you would expect, we have a team dedicated to gathering the facts to help us make sense of all that has transpired,” she wrote. “We’re working on what the best next steps are.”

But network sources said Williams’ antics shouldn’t come as a surprise to NBC News higher-ups. Execs knew he was overstating his Baghdad travails and even warned him to stop, but he wouldn’t listen, the sources said.

“The top NBC executives knew the story was false and told him to stop telling it,” an insider said. “They spent nearly a decade trying to protect Brian from himself. It was a constant battle.”

Williams showed up at his Manhattan office unusually early Friday, before 9 a.m., instead of his usual afternoon appearance, a source said.

He avoided addressing the scandal during the division’s usual early-morning news conference calls, but did apologize to his colleagues face-to-face at their 9 a.m. meeting.

“This morning, at the editorial exchange, we both addressed the wider group,” Turness assured underlings in her e-mail. “Brian apologized once again and specifically expressed how sorry he is for the impact this has had on all of you and on this proud organization.”

Not everyone was won over by his mea culpa.

Brian WilliamsGetty Images

“He told everyone, ‘This one’s on me,’ but the apology still seemed rather half-assed,” a source said. “Turness told the group that she’s spending ‘100 percent of her time, day and night, to sort this out.’ ”

Leading the internal probe will be former New York Post police reporter Richie Esposito.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd stuck by Williams during an interview with Michael Smerconish, saying his colleague is “pretty remorseful.”

“He knows that . . . this impacts everybody that works at NBC News,” Todd said.

Meanwhile, Williams is even in trouble with bosses Turness and NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Pat Fili-Krushell for not telling them he planned to apologize on the air until an hour before he actually appeared before the cameras.

“Then he went to the Rangers game with Tom Hanks, leaving the bosses to deal with the mess,” an irked source said.

NBC is in a tight spot since it has no one with the star power to replace Williams yet — and he recently signed a five-year contract for $10 million a year.

The obvious move would be to fire Williams, but “the problem is they don’t have a backup plan,” a source said. “They might bring Tom Brokaw back for a month or two while they find a replacement.”

Turness sent the following memo to NBC News staffers on Friday afternoon:

This has been a difficult few days for all of us at NBC News.

Yesterday, Brian and I spoke to the Nightly News team. And this morning at the Editorial Exchange, we both addressed the wider group. Brian apologized once again, and specifically expressed how sorry he is for the impact this has had on all of you and on this proud organization.

As you would expect, we have a team dedicated to gathering the facts to help us make sense of all that has transpired.  We’re working on what the best next steps are – and when we have something to communicate we will of course share it with you.

Since joining NBC News, I’ve seen great strength and resilience. We are a close-knit family, and your response this week has made that even clearer.

As a relentless news agenda marches on, thank you again for continuing to do what we do best – bring the most important stories of the day to our audience.

Chuck Todd, moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” on Williams: 

Additional reporting by ­Sophia Rosenbaum