ABC Ignores Hillary's Expanding Donor Scandal; CBS Hypes Bill 'Defending His Family'

June 11th, 2015 11:17 AM

ABC's Good Morning America on Thursday ignored a new report indicating that Hillary Clinton's favors for donors to her family's foundation go back to her days as a U.S. Senator. CBS This Morning allowed 42 seconds on the Clinton Foundation scandal in general, but didn't specifically mention the new allegations. 

According to an analysis in the Washington Times, "Hillary Rodham Clinton's efforts to provide favors to major donors to her husband's global charity or her own political career stretch back far earlier than her tenure as America's top diplomat, dating to the time she served as a U.S. senator and had the power to earmark federal funds and influence legislation, records show." 

Times writer Kelly Riddell explained: 

She also went to bat for Freddie Mac, working to defeat legislation that would have subjected the mortgage giant to tougher regulations before the housing bubble burst and led to a major recession. That same year, Freddie Mac donated $50,000 to $100,000 to her husband's charity, originally called the William J. Clinton Foundation records show.

Mrs. Clinton also used her leverage as a senator to help persuade the Chinese government to reduce tariffs on Corning Inc.'s fiber optic products. The central New York company's employees and executives contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to her campaigns and political action committee.

Analysts on political money have said the pattern of Mrs. Clinton's intervention on behalf of donors to her husband's charity raise troubling ethical questions.

Riddell added: 

Mrs. Clinton's tenure as New York's senator only adds to the storyline of political favors for wealthy contributors.

In 2004, Robert J. Congel, an upstate New York builder, contributed $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation — one month after Mrs. Clinton, as senator, helped enact legislation that allowed Mr. Congel's firm to use tax-free bonds to build a mega-shopping center dubbed Destiny USA in Syracuse.

About year later, Mrs. Clinton put an additional earmark in a highway bill for $5 million for Mr. Congel's development project, which passed nine months after Mr. Congel donated to the Clinton Foundation.

ABC's GMA has a run-time of two hours, but the show made no time for the newest developments. Instead, the show's hosts devoted almost five minutes to how to make the best barbecue.

It's important to remember that Good Morning America is the morning show anchored by George Stephanopoulos, a former Bill Clinton operative. He's also the person who was forced to apologize after it was revealed that he secretly donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation, all while covering the former president and his wife.  

On CBS This Morning, the journalists avoided the Washington Times story, but Sharyn Alfonsi alerted that "former President Bill Clinton is defending his family's charity and rejecting charges that some contributors are looking for political favors." 

Alfonsi added, "Mr. Clinton also said he will stop giving paid speeches if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is elected president. The couple received more than $25 million in speaking fees last year alone." 

A transcript of the June 11 CBS This Morning segment is below:   

 

7:17

SHARYN ALFONSI: This morning former President Bill Clinton is defending his family's charity and rejecting charges that some contributors are looking for political favors. The Clinton Foundation has acknowledged that millions of dollars in donations were not properly reported. At a Clinton Global Initiative conference in Denver, the former president insisted the foundation is beyond politics. 

BILL CLINTON: As anybody proved that we did anything objectionable? No. Have we done a lot of good things with this money? Yes.

ALFONSI: Mr. Clinton also said he will stop giving paid speeches if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is elected president. The couple received more than $25 million in speaking fees last year alone.