CBS Evening News has had a slightly better-than-normal track record recently of providing relatively balanced coverage when it came to Republicans and Democrats. But during Tuesday’s edition, they had a pretty serious relapse.
Chief Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes presented what was pitched as a CBS News investigation into state-level attorneys general who were getting a little too cozy with corporate lobbyists. But in reality, it targeted primarily Republican AGs while giving Democratic ones what amounted to a free pass. A double standard if ever there was one.
“Now our CBS News investigative team, which went undercover to expose the cozy relationship between lobbyists and state attorneys general,” announced anchor Jeff Glor as he led into Cordes’ lopsided report. “Lobbyists are making huge donations to groups that help get officials elected. For their money, they get access to top law enforcement officers, only expanding what some call ‘The Swamp.’”
By “undercover,” Glor might have meant to say ‘observed from afar,’ because the footage captured by CBS of one the events attended by AGs and lobbyists appeared to have been recorded from a long distance away.
Cordes didn’t even pretend to cover the issue through a bipartisan lens. “Holding public office has its perks. On Kiawah Island in South Carolina, we spotted Republican state attorneys general taking the kind of luxury trip most Americans can't afford,” she began.
She described how “lobbyists and corporate guests fork over $125,000. $50,000 gets them one-on-one issue briefings with state AGs” and followed that up with a clip of an attendee telling the crowd “God bless America,” obviously for a sarcastic effect.
“This getaway and others like it are organized by RAGA, the Republican Attorneys General Association,” Cordes explained before noting some the attendees included liberal boogiemen like Koch Industries and the NRA.
After claiming RAGA had raised $20 million in just 18 months, Cordes seemed to insinuate it was for a corrupt purpose: “CBS News reviewed 88 donations over $50,000, and found more than half of the donors had matters under consideration by a state attorney general or had recently settled. Others needed help from the AG community.” They reported all these large sums of money flying around Republican AGs but they never reported the amounts donated to Democratic ones.
So, what did CBS and Cordes have to say about Democratic AGs who got cozy with lobbyists? Nearly nothing. “It's not just the Republicans. Democratic AGs are courted by trial lawyers and lobbyists too, at more modest receptions, like this one in Washington, D.C.,” was all Cordes had to say.
It could be argued that it was almost a defense of Democrats since the get-togethers weren’t as fancy as those hosted by Republicans, according to CBS. They didn’t even show an image or state the name of any Democratic AG. The network even blurred out some the faces at the Democratic event, something they didn’t do for the Republican event they filmed.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
June 19, 2018
6:40:05 PM EasternJEFF GLOR: Now our CBS News investigative team, which went undercover to expose the cozy relationship between lobbyists and state attorneys general. Lobbyists are making huge donations to groups that help get officials elected. For their money, they get access to top law enforcement officers, only expanding what some call "The Swamp." Here's Nancy Cordes with a CBS News investigation.
[Cuts to video]
NANCY CORDES: Holding public office has its perks. On Kiawah Island in South Carolina, we spotted Republican state attorneys general taking the kind of luxury trip most Americans can't afford. $500 rounds of golf, oceanfront receptions, and yoga on the beach, all courtesy the corporate donors.
CHRISTOPHER CARR: I'm Chris Carr and I am the attorney general from the state of Georgia.
CORDES: This getaway and others like it are organized by RAGA, the Republican Attorneys General Association. To attend, lobbyists and corporate guests fork over $125,000. $50,000 gets them one-on-one issue briefings with state AGs.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: God bless America. God bless each and every one of you.
CORDES: At Kiawah, we saw at least nine state AGs rubbing shoulders with representatives from Koch Industries, big tobacco, payday lenders, and the NRA. The dress code? Resort casual.
Selling access to such events has helped RAGA raise more than $20 million in the last 18 months. CBS News reviewed 88 donations over $50,000, and found more than half of the donors had matters under consideration by a state attorney general or had recently settled. Others needed help from the AG community.
In 2016, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson gave RAGA $250,000. Two months later, 10 Republican AGs wrote this letter to the Trump administration calling for a federal ban on online gambling, Adelson’s biggest competition.
The cost of a getaway at a swanky golf resort like this one in Pinehurst, North Carolina, about $4,000 per attorney general but they don't have to pay a penny. It's considered a gift.
BILL NEWTON: We're really out-gunned. We know that.
CORDES: We met Bill Newton at a very different kind of conference for state-based consumer advocates in the basement of a D.C. hotel. Newton doesn't have corporate cash. Here's what happens when he wants to meet with his state AG, Florida's Pam Bondi.
NEWTON: Your only option is to fill out a form on the website and click something and see if anything happens.
CORDES: It's not just the Republicans. Democratic AGs are courted by trial lawyers and lobbyists, too, at more modest receptions, like this one in Washington, D.C. Marquette University's Paul
PAUL NOLETTER: They're not just giving money out of charity. They're expecting something out of this.
CORDES: Both sides dispute that. RAGA tells CBS News it, quote, "has been successful in supporting candidates that will defend the rule of law." "Republican attorneys general have this mindset and that's what drives their action, nothing else."
[Cuts back to live]
GLOR: Nancy is here with us now. So, here's what's interesting, I mean, we think of lobbyists courting politicians, not necessarily law enforcement.
CORDES: Well, exactly. But there has been a growing recognition, Jeff, that these AGs do a lot more than just deciding who to prosecute and who to ignore. They can have a big influence on policy at the state level and if they band together, on the federal level. Of course, there are limits on how much they can give an individual politician but there's no limit on how much they can give an association like RAGA. And depending on the state, some of these AGs don't even have to report the fancy trips or how much they cost.
GLOR: An eye-opening report. We thank you and producer Laura Strickler for that. Nancy, thanks.
