ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos has acknowledged donating $50,000 to Clinton Foundation between 2013 and 2014, and has apologized for not disclosing it during his coverage of the controversy surrounding the foundation’s relationships with foreign donors. Stephanopoulos "disclosed" his donations to POLITICO after the Free Beacon contacted ABC News last night to request comment.
Here are two follow-up questions because there's no point reaching out to ABC News:
1) Why does the Clinton Foundation list Stephanopoulos's donation as greater than $50,000?
The Clinton Foundation website lists Stephanopoulos as a donor in the $50,001 to $100,000 category. Could be an oversight, and a relatively minor one compared to other Clinton Foundation oopsies. But why the discrepancy?
2) Did Stephanopoulos hope his donation would "lead to something"?
After his April 26 interview with Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer, Stephanopoulos discussed the Clinton Foundation controversy on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. "This is tough one, because when you actually look closely at it, [Schweizer] even says, there’s no evidence of any direct action on behalf of the donors," Stephanopoulos said. "But everybody also knows when those donors give that money…there’s a hope that that’s going to lead to something, and that’s what you have to be careful of."
Stephanopoulos obviously did not disclose his donations at the time, but if we are to judge him according to his own words, it's worth asking: What was he hoping to achieve by making those donations? You know, apart from saving the world?
Stephanopoulos has long been rumored to have had a falling out with his former boss Bill Clinton after writing a book critical of his presidency. The relationship seems to have mended in recent years. Stephanopoulos scored a friendly interview with Clinton on the eve of the government shutdown in September 2013, the same year he made a $25,000 donation to the Clinton Foundation. In the words of a former Clinton aide, "everybody knows" that individuals who donate money to the Clinton Foundation are hoping to get something out of it.
Just asking questions.
Interview below. Note the Clinton Global Initiative backdrop.
UPDATE: We have an answer to Question #1. Stephanopoulos apparently forgot to disclose another $25,000 donation he made in 2012, which brings his total contribution to $75,000.