Pity poor Hillary Clinton. Just when she thought that the media was growing tired of the Clinton Foundation story, George Stephanopoulos gave the story new life. George is, of course, a member of the inner circle of the administration of Bill Clinton, and he is now a "journalist" at ABC News. He is also the person that ABC assigned to interview the author of Clinton Cash, the book which disclosed all those hidden foreign contributions to the Clinton Foundation from foreigners with business with the then secretary of state Hillary Clinton. The tawdry tale of selling influence is well known, and the main line of defense from the Clinton supporters has been that there is no document or other proof that shows that Hillary granted favors to a contributor in exchange for cash. It's a funny defense. The Clinton people act as if they are delivering a summation to a jury in a criminal trial rather than commenting on a political question. Hillary may some day have her chance to defend herself in a criminal court, but that is not where we are at the moment. And the reality is that there is more than enough evidence to convict Hillary if she were in criminal court. There is no need for a document that records the deal. Just ask senator Menendez about that. He is currently under indictment for favoring a big contributor even though there is nothing that records the alleged deal.
But back to Stephanopoulos. His interview of Peter Schweitzer, the author of Clinton Cash, was a strong defense of the Clintons. George kept saying that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing. He was following the Clinton defense outline to the letter. And the interview was extremely tough. Now, we find out that George actually gave huge amounts himself to the Clinton Foundation. If we had known at the time of the interview that George was a contributor, most people would understand why he was coming on so strong. After all, his own credibility was on the line. If the Clinton Foundation was a way to buy access to the Clintons, then George was a major purchaser. He had to discredit the story or look bad himself. but George did not disclose his payments to the Clintons. Supposedly, he did not tell ABC either. Only when another media outlet found out about his contributions did George admit to them.
The truth is that this is bad stuff. George Stephanopoulos has issued an apology but that is truly too little and too late. Indeed, the apology seems phony on its face. There is no way that George chose to give to the Clinton Foundation because he wanted to combat AIDS. There are too many good organizations that get over 90% of the funds donated into the fight against the disease. The Clinton Foundation gets only about 10% of the donations into the fight; the rest goes to "administration". Stephanopoulos is well enough informed to have known this. Oh, he may not have known the precise numbers, but he surely knew enough to understand that he was buying access to the Clintons and not help fight AIDS.
It is funny to see the Clinton folks now starting to defend Stephanopoulos. (Maybe that defense is part of what you get for the contributions.) Writing in New York Magazine, Jonathan Chait is out with a piece that points out that there is no evidence that George was buying access. Sound familiar? I think it's time the Clinton's get a new playbook. This one isn't working.
But back to Stephanopoulos. His interview of Peter Schweitzer, the author of Clinton Cash, was a strong defense of the Clintons. George kept saying that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing. He was following the Clinton defense outline to the letter. And the interview was extremely tough. Now, we find out that George actually gave huge amounts himself to the Clinton Foundation. If we had known at the time of the interview that George was a contributor, most people would understand why he was coming on so strong. After all, his own credibility was on the line. If the Clinton Foundation was a way to buy access to the Clintons, then George was a major purchaser. He had to discredit the story or look bad himself. but George did not disclose his payments to the Clintons. Supposedly, he did not tell ABC either. Only when another media outlet found out about his contributions did George admit to them.
The truth is that this is bad stuff. George Stephanopoulos has issued an apology but that is truly too little and too late. Indeed, the apology seems phony on its face. There is no way that George chose to give to the Clinton Foundation because he wanted to combat AIDS. There are too many good organizations that get over 90% of the funds donated into the fight against the disease. The Clinton Foundation gets only about 10% of the donations into the fight; the rest goes to "administration". Stephanopoulos is well enough informed to have known this. Oh, he may not have known the precise numbers, but he surely knew enough to understand that he was buying access to the Clintons and not help fight AIDS.
It is funny to see the Clinton folks now starting to defend Stephanopoulos. (Maybe that defense is part of what you get for the contributions.) Writing in New York Magazine, Jonathan Chait is out with a piece that points out that there is no evidence that George was buying access. Sound familiar? I think it's time the Clinton's get a new playbook. This one isn't working.
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