Longtime CNN commentator and host Robert Novak will leave the network Dec. 31. On Friday, Novak said that he would be joining CNN's more-popular competitor Fox News as an occasional contributor, according to a report by The New York Times.
Novak's contract was up at the end of the year and was not renewed.
"Through the years, Bob has offered incisive analysis for much of CNN’s programming, including Crossfire, The Capital Gang, Inside Politics, Evans and Novak, The Novak Zone, and Novak, Hunt and Shields," the network said in a statement.
"Bob has also been a valued contributor to CNN’s political coverage. We appreciate his many contributions and wish him well in future endeavors," said Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S.
CNN has been pondering his fate for several months. Novak has not been on the air since August after he stormed off the set of the network's Inside Politics and said "That's bull----" during a debate with liberal political strategist James Carville.
Novak has been in the news for several months regarding a federal investigation into the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity. Plame’s name appeared in a Novak column on July 14, 2003.
Just this week he was reported to be cooperating with the ongoing government investigation into the leak.--Anne Becker contributed to this report.
