Richard M

They are stalling to get their ducks in a row:

They are speaking to lawyers to see if a crime has been committed.

They are speaking to lawyers to see if they can/must/may disclose the source.

They are speaking to lawyers to see if they must make disclosure in their SEC filings.

They are speaking internally to see who will resign.

They are speaking internally to see how they will word their retraction.

All that takes time.

That was a big part of the Jayson Blair story.

After Haines wrote his mea culpa about having grown up in the South & feeling guilty about black people, the TIMES folks had to consider the legal ramifications of a public statement, by the editor, that he had almost certainly discriminated against reporters of every other race.

From some of the reports I read at the time, it sounded as if the legal ramifications alone made it certain Blair & C. had to go.