Last summer, David Gregory had a rather messy break-up with NBC News after being replaced by Chuck Todd as the host of Meet the Press. It was clear that the network was looking to make a change and Gregory would need to find greener pastures. After floating around for a bit, Gregory found his new gig at CNN last month, where he was scheduled to do political commentary and coverage. Do you suppose that he’ll be asked to comment on the ongoing Hillary Clinton email scandal as part of his duties? And if so, will he reveal to his audience that his wife has, shall we say, a rather tight professional relationship with some of the principals? (Daily Caller)

The wife of CNN political analyst David Gregory is the attorney representing Hillary Clinton’s ex-aides in the FBI’s investigation into her private server usage, raising concerns of a possible conflict of interest. It was reported by Politico on Friday that Gregory’s wife, Beth Wilkinson, is representing four of Hillary Clinton’s former state department staffers in the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s use of private email. Wilkinson is a former federal attorney who prosecuted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. Gregory, who used to be the host of “Meet the Press,” has joined CNN as a political analyst, and most of his work will be done on their morning show “New Day.”

To be fair, we should point out that David Gregory and his wife are two separate people. She has the right to earn a living like anyone else, and neither should be completely disqualified from their livelihood because of the professional engagements of their spouse. But at the same time, reality seeps in for most consumers of either of their services. Wives and husbands have the ear of their better half in a way nobody else can. Would Beth Wilkinson really appreciate having the old man out there on national television reporting news which could potentially make life harder for her clients? At a minimum, Gregory should be required to begin any story related to the Clinton email scandal with a disclaimer identifying his wife and her relationship to the story.

But this is far from the first time we’ve seen personal history blur the lines of media bias. The most famous example is obviously George Stephanopoulos, who maintains a job with ABC News at the top of the pecking order. He’s the host of This Week as well as being the daily co-host of Good Morning America. At the same time, he frequently fails to mention that he was the White House communications director for Bill Clinton and is a frequent (and hefty) donor to the Clinton foundation. None of that seems to stop him from covering all the stories related to Clinton World. (His wife, fortunately, is an actress and is mostly out of the political pool.)

The Clinton email story is hot as a pistol right now and will only increase in significance if Hillary winds up being indicted. (Still a long shot, I know.) Last year the network had actually been planning to allow him to moderate presidential debates until his Clinton Foundation donations were made public. It seems that moderating a debate is a bridge too far, but providing analysis six days a week is not.

The media circuit is messy enough as it is. If the networks can’t be trusted to reveal all of these connections before their stars dive into the stories then there’s little reason for anyone to trust them.