"The trio has remained silent," reports the New York Observer, "but all three are consulting with lawyers about the possibility of bringing legal action against CBS News."

Defenders of the CBS Three complain that star anchorman Dan Rather and the president of the news division, Andrew Heyward, got off scott free while they were scapegoated.

They point out that Howard - who was just six days into his job as executive producer when the Rathergate segment aired - was actually the first one to urge the network to acknowledge the possibility that it had been duped, in an e-mail sent two days after the segment aired.

"Those who know Ms. West, Mr. Howard and Ms. Murphy said that they have an uneasy choice to make between fighting for their own professional reputations - by expanding on those missing links and possibly trying to bring top executives down with them," the Observer said, "or peaceably drawing the best possible severance package from the company."

Editor's note: