ABC News anchor and former Clinton White House communications advisor George Stephanopoulos issued an apology this morning on Good Morning America for failing to openly disclose $75,000 in donations to the Clinton Foundation. The donations weren't disclosed before Stephanopoulos conducted an interview with Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer about allegations Hillary Clinton traded political favors for donations to the Foundation during her time as Secretary of State.
"I want to address some news you may have seen about me. Over the last several years I’ve made substantial donations to dozens of charities including the Clinton Global Foundation. Those donations were a matter of public record but I should have made additional disclosures on air when we covered the foundation. And I now believe that directing personal donations to that foundation was a mistake," Stephanopoulos said (bolding is mine). "Even though I made them strictly to support work done to stop the spread of AIDS, help children, and protect the environment in poor countries, I should have gone the extra mile to avoid even the appearance of a conflict. I apologize to all of you for failing to do that."
Stephanopoulos wants the narrative during the fallout here to be this: If you criticize or question donations to the Clinton Foundation, you're basically against helping poor people, aids research and clean water. Further, he's apologized and regrets making the donations, so we should move on and stop questioning the ethics surrounding his decision not to disclose the donations while covering critical stories about the Foundation. Also, if you think non-disclosure of donations is more important than saving children, you're a terrible person.
Here's the problem. This isn't about the donations being made in the first place, it's about hiding them from viewers while covering, and defending, the Clinton Foundation. Stephanopoulous is a former and current Clinton and Democratic operative. We saw his role play out during the 2012 presidential election when he inserted non-existent birth control bans into the national debate. He talks to Rahm Emanuel and James Carville every day about strategy.
Stephanopoulos didn't "make a mistake" by donating the Clinton Foundation or by failing to disclose the donations. They were both done deliberately as part of his role to shape narratives on behalf of the Left.
