{"id":8418,"date":"2015-05-18T06:01:09","date_gmt":"2015-05-18T13:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=8418"},"modified":"2015-05-18T06:01:09","modified_gmt":"2015-05-18T13:01:09","slug":"george-stephanopouloss-clinton-foundation-hypocrisy-is-staggering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/george-stephanopouloss-clinton-foundation-hypocrisy-is-staggering\/","title":{"rendered":"George Stephanopoulos\u2019s Clinton Foundation Hypocrisy Is Staggering"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ NRO-The Corner<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo via NRO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The problem with George Stephanopoulos\u2019s Clinton-gate mess is that his own words prove him to be both a bully and a hypocrite, as well as abjectly unethical.<\/p>\n

Set aside the fact that \u2014 if not outed \u2014 he would likely never have informed his viewership about his contributions to the Clinton Foundation (and presumably would have continued to grill authors like Peter Schweizer for attacking the pay-for-play Clinton culture).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Set aside the fact that, in Clinton Foundation tax-reporting fashion, he \u201cforgot\u201d a $25,000 donation when he initially and erroneously stated that he had contributed $50,000 rather than the actual $75,000. And that he confused the news source that originally discovered his gifts. What we are left with is George Stephanopoulos indicting George Stephanopoulos. When he attacked Schweizer for a supposed conflict of interest in having been a Bush speechwriter for four months, he assumed that his own much longer tenure as a war-room political flak for Bill Clinton could never impinge on his own objectivity \u2014 much less provide the context for his recent donations to the Clinton family foundation.<\/p>\n

Check After all, there are plenty of other charities concerned with AIDS and deforestation to help out. (At least Stephanopoulos did not suggest that he was interested in Haitian relief or Kazakhstani internal development.) And the vast majority of charities surely do not skim 90 percent off the top for travel and overhead expenses, as the Foundation does according to news reports. Routing $75,000 to these worthy causes via the Clintons might have meant that the charities ended up with ten cents on the dollar, or about $7,500 of Stephanopoulos\u2019s money to divide up among them. Had he consulted various adjudicators of charity performance, he could have easily learned that giving to something run by Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton was not a very efficient way of saving trees and helping those infected with HIV.<\/p>\n

So when Stephanopoulos confessed to Jon Stewart in late April that donors who know the Clinton Foundation modus operandi give generously to ensure that, \u201cThere\u2019s a hope that that\u2019s going to lead to something,\u201d he was again referencing himself, although not overtly to Stewart. Remember, Stephanopoulos stated that he did not donate to deforestation and global AIDS efforts via the Clintons until 2012, 2013, and 2014. In other words, if Stephanopoulos were to grill Stephanopoulos, he would surely ask why the donations started then and why they went to the Clintons, given that the dates roughly coincide to when Hillary was transitioning out of the State Department and readying her run for the presidency. The obvious inference is that it would be wise for marquee television-roundtable hosts to plan ahead and to line up interviews for the upcoming campaign. Was Stephanopoulos, then, in donating at that time and to that recipient, thinking such an action would \u201clead to something\u201d such as possible exclusives and better news access to the Clinton campaign?<\/p>\n

And when it is reported that Columbia University Journalism School professor Richard Wald intones of the scandal that, \u201cIt\u2019s a mistake, and it\u2019s a dumb one, but it\u2019s not a criminal offense; other people have done other dumb things,\u201d one doesn\u2019t know whether to laugh or cry. Wald once worked as \u201cethics czar\u201d for Stephanopoulos\u2019s own ABC network and, in good Clintonian fashion, is invoking for him the now familiar Bill\/Hillary defense of \u201cat least it can\u2019t be proven a crime in a court of law\u201d and \u201ceveryone does it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ NRO-The Corner The problem with George Stephanopoulos\u2019s Clinton-gate mess is that his own words prove him to be both a bully and a hypocrite, as well as abjectly unethical. Set aside the fact that \u2014 if not outed \u2014 he would likely never have informed his viewership about his contributions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[977,185],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-2bM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8386,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/remember-when-the-left-welcomed-exposes-of-the-clintons\/","url_meta":{"origin":8418,"position":0},"title":"Remember When the Left Welcomed Expos\u00e9s of the Clintons?","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson\u00a0\/\/ NRO- The Corner In July 2008 Todd Purdum wrote a devastating and controversial take-down of Bill Clinton for Vanity Fair, outlining the sort of ethical and personal lapses that are back in the news seven years later. The Left largely welcomed the expos\u00e9 because it came\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Opinion"","block_context":{"text":"Opinion","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo: President Clinton is sworn in during the Inauguration Ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. (January 20, 1997)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/12133633-standard-500x389.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8431,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obama-and-hillary-are-all-too-happy-to-coerce-acceptance-of-their-agendas\/","url_meta":{"origin":8418,"position":1},"title":"Obama and Hillary Are All Too Happy to Coerce Acceptance of Their Agendas","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online What happens when the public does not wish to live out the utopian dreams of its elite leaders? Usually, the answer for those leaders is to seek more coercion and less liberty to force people to think progressively. Here at home, President\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hillary Clinton"","block_context":{"text":"Hillary Clinton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/public-figures\/hillary-clinton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo via NRO","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/pic_giant_033015_SM_Hillary-Clinton-Dark-G-500x292.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8279,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/shameless\/","url_meta":{"origin":8418,"position":2},"title":"Shameless","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson\u00a0\/\/ NRO- The Corner Hillary stonewalled and has now outsourced her problem to attack-dog subordinates and Democratic stalwarts who, she believes, have Hillary\u2014or no one\u2014for 2016. I guess the message is \u201cI\u2019m lying, so what?\u201d Remember Richard Nixon\u2019s vain attempt to keep Watergate tapes because he alone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NRO The Corner"","block_context":{"text":"NRO The Corner","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/opinion\/nro-the-corner\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yana Paskova\/Getty Images","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/465793892-500x281.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8592,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/hillary-clinton-reactionary\/","url_meta":{"origin":8418,"position":3},"title":"Hillary Clinton, Reactionary","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ PJ Media\u00a0 Amid the Trump psychodramas, the public has forgotten not just Hillary Clinton\u2019s latest contortions over her emails, but Mrs. Clinton herself. Hillary has assumed the position of a tired vice president in waiting, without any of the perks that might accrue from a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hillary Clinton"","block_context":{"text":"Hillary Clinton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/public-figures\/hillary-clinton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo via NRO","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/pic_giant_033015_SM_Hillary-Clinton-Dark-G-500x292.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8255,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/finding-the-great-republican-hope\/","url_meta":{"origin":8418,"position":4},"title":"Finding the Great Republican Hope","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The GOP can\u2019t win in 2016 by thinking inside the box. by Victor Davis Hanson\u00a0\/\/ National Review Online The usual criteria for political success \u2014 plenty of New York and Washington IOUs, youthful vigor, good looks, glibness, access to lots of money \u2014 aren\u2019t sufficient any longer to galvanize the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "America's Future"","block_context":{"text":"America's Future","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/americas-future\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo via NRO","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/pic_FB_030315_debate-500x500.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8617,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-democrats-too-old-and-too-white\/","url_meta":{"origin":8418,"position":5},"title":"The Democrats: Too Old and Too White?","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Leftwingers\u2019 taunts in 2008 and 2012 have come back to haunt them. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online In the jubilation of the Obama election victories of 2008 and 2012, the Left warned Republicans that the party of McCain and Romney was now \u201ctoo old, too white, too\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Democracy"","block_context":{"text":"Democracy","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/politics\/democracy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo via NRO","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/OldDemocrats082515-500x281.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8418"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8420,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8418\/revisions\/8420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}