In the latest example of media bias concerning the 2016 election that many would cowardly blame on Donald Trump stealing the spotlight, Tuesday’s morning shows on ABC and NBC saw no reason to inform their viewers of a USA Today investigation detailing the cozy relationships cultivated between high-profile corporate lobbyists to the Hillary Clinton-led State Department, the Clinton Foundation, and top donors to her campaign.
While ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today were missing in action, CBS This Morning dedicated 57 seconds to the front-page article while speaking to USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page.
Co-host Gayle King (who has her own checkered history of donating to Democrats and the Obamas) brought it up as “raising a very interesting story about the intersection of the Clinton Foundation donors, the State Department lobbyists and then fundraisers for the Clinton campaign.”
Continuing to lack any self-awareness, King later added that “[c]oziness is never good in politics, isn’t it” as Page ruled that while State Department lobbyists becoming Clinton fundraisers wasn’t “illegal,” it still “may alarm Americans which is a kind of coziness among different things.”
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Page went onto provide on example that she concluded wasn’t “surprising” and “not illegal” but “maybe disturbing”:
Pfizer for instance, a big pharmaceutical company gives $1 million to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation. They hire a big Washington law firm to lobby the State Department on provisions of the Pacific Partnership — the TPP deal that was in the works. One of their lobbyists then becomes a fundraiser for the Hillary Clinton campaign. None of that’s illegal, but Americans might look at that and who was looking out for me when this kind of thing was going on?
“While it is widely known that some companies and foreign governments gave money to the foundations, perhaps in an effort to gain favor, one of the key parts of the puzzle hasn’t been reported: At least a dozen of those same companies lobbied the State Department, using lobbyists who doubled as major Clinton campaign fundraisers,” writer Kevin McCoy explained near the top of his piece.
Most notably in the study, McCoy found that the companies referenced above “gave as much as $16 million to the Clinton charities” with “[a]t least four of the lobbyists they hired” were given the distinction of “hav[ing] raised $100,000 or more for her current White House race” plus two who also fundraised for her failed 2008 bid.
The list of major corporations ranged from ExxonMobil to Mexican TV network Azteca to even a company known as The Northeast Maglev looking to secure funding for high-speed, magnetic railways across the U.S. In turn, they all spent between hundreds of thousands of dollars to upwards of $5 million on both lobbying the State Department as well as donations to the Clinton Foundation.
“While the review did not find instances where companies received special favors, each example illustrates the unique challenge the Democratic presidential nominee would face in dealing with potential conflicts of interest if she were to win the White House,” McCoy added.
Here are some other interesting tidbits [emphasis mine]:
One of the representatives who lobbied on Microsoft’s behalf was Frederick Humphries Jr., the company’s corporate vice president for government affairs. He has also been named a 2016 Hillblazer for his fundraising efforts on Clinton’s behalf.
At the same time, Microsoft was heavily involved with Clinton’s foundation. The company gave money in 2011 and 2012 to support educational programs that would benefit students and help broaden digital literacy education, Clinton foundation announcements show.
(....)
The Northeast Maglev contributed as much as $100,000 to the Clinton foundation. Additionally, Rogers and his wife hosted a December 2015 fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. He’s also been named a Hillblazer for his campaign fundraising success.
Matthew Bernstein, one of the lobbyists who pressed the company’s cause at the Department of State during 2012, is a Hillblazer. He also raised at least $100,000 for Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid, according to a review of financial disclosures by the non-partisan group Public Citizen.
The relevant portion of the transcript from October 18's CBS This Morning can be found below.
CBS This Morning
October 18, 2016
7:13 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Campaign 2016; Clinton Quid Pro Quo?; USA Today’s Page on Questions About Alleged Deal]
GAYLE KING: USA Today front page of your paper, Susan, raising a very interesting story about the intersection of the Clinton Foundation donors, the State Department lobbyists and then fundraisers for the Clinton campaign. What are you all finding out?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Campaign 2016; A Solid Foundation? USA Today’s Page on Questions About Clinton Donors]
SUSAN PAGE: Well, we're finding out things that are not illegal but may alarm Americans which is a kind of coziness among different things.
KING: Coziness is never good in politics, isn’t it?
PAGE: Yeah, not a good thing. Here's an example. Pfizer for instance, a big pharmaceutical company gives $1 million to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation. They hire a big Washington law firm to lobby the State Department on provisions of the Pacific Partnership — the TPP deal that was in the works. One of their lobbyists then becomes a fundraiser for the Hillary Clinton campaign. None of that’s illegal, but Americans might look at that and who was looking out for me when this kind of thing was going on?
CHARLIE ROSE: People with money have special privileges?
PAGE: Not surprising. Not illegal. But maybe disturbing.
