CNN, in an effort to protect the Obama administration while still getting a scoop, hid the fact that they were in control of the diary of the Ambassador to Libya from September 15 to September 21. According to CNN, they found Ambassador Chris Stevens’ diary “four days after he was killed.” They then told Stevens’ family about the diary, and spent the next few days “corroborating” what they considered “newsworthy tips” in the diary.

This is absurd. The diary was found in a public area – according to CNN, “on the floor of the largely unsecured consulate compound where he was fatally wounded.” While sections with regard to the Ambassador’s private life surely should have been redacted, anything of relevance he had to say with regard to the security situation in Benghazi should have been published forthwith. Diaries contain the feelings of the authors; they require no corroboration.

So why did CNN wait a week?

They waited a week because they didn’t know what to do. Instead, they tried to leak out information they garnered slowly, without much notice. They buried the lede. Because they’re CNN, and this is the Obama administration, and they didn’t want to step on any toes. That’s why tonight, when they released news of the Ambassador’s diary, a week late, they headlined it this way: “CNN finds, returns journal belonging to late U.S. ambassador.”

That, of course, is not the news. The news is that the Libya ambassador’s diary contained worries about security in Benghazi. But CNN doesn’t worry about that. Instead, they worry that they’ll be perceived as having forfeited their status as Obama’s chief palace guards by releasing any details of the diary.