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Stephanopoulos Does Not Disclose Clinton Connections at Start of Hillary Town Hall

George Stephanopoulos / AP
April 21, 2016

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos failed to disclose his past donations to the Clinton Foundation during a town hall with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Thursday.

Stephanopoulos hosted the wide-ranging town hall with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America but never brought up his past connections to the Clinton family.

"Let’s welcome our special guest this morning, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton," Stephanopoulos said at the start of the town hall before jumping right into the first question.

Stephanopoulos did not disclose that he has donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation, which the Washington Free Beacon reported in May 2015.

Journalists generally disclose any connections they may have to political candidates or their campaigns while covering them to avoid a potential conflict of interest and to be as transparent as possible to the public.

ABC issued an apology after the Free Beacon story came out about the donations. A network spokeswoman told the New York Times at the time that any employee who makes a donation to a charity must "disclose that to us before covering a story related to that organization."

Stephanopoulos also served as an aide to former President Bill Clinton, which he also did not disclose during the town hall.

The Republican National Committee blocked Stephanopoulos from moderating a GOP presidential debate on ABC last year because of the news anchor’s ties to Clinton. He did appear on air before and after the debate, though.

Stephanopoulos has interviewed Clinton several times before but has stopped disclosing his donations on air.