Last year, ABC's George Stephanopoulos used his perch as anchor of This Week to trash author Peter Schweizer for his book Clinton Cash, which alleged serious conflicts of interest between the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton's State Department.
But now that Schweizer is questioning the conflicts of interest that may surround Donald Trump's presidency, ABC's This Week finds Schweizer worth citing as an expert source. On Sunday's show, investigative correspondent Brian Ross included Schweizer in a piece examining how Trump's business interests could create openings for foreign entities seeking influence with his White House.
BRIAN ROSS: With Trump investments or deals in at least 18 countries around the world, even those whose advice has been sought by the transition office say the President-elect is leaving himself open to serious conflicts.
Clinton Cash author PETER SCHWEIZER: You're going to have foreign entities, foreign governments offering sweetheart deals in the hope of favorable action from the President of the United States.
ROSS: That may already be happening at the new Trump luxury hotel in Washington, D.C., which seems to be the new 'in spot,' the place for foreign governments and special interests to show loyalty to Donald Trump. Earlier this week the Kingdom of Bahrain rented out the presidential ballroom, at an estimated cost around $100,000, to celebrate its national holiday.
Citing Schweizer as a reputable source is a bit of a switcheroo for ABC's This Week. Back on April 26, 2015, when Schweizer's book Clinton Cash was first published, host George Stephanopoulos repeatedly attacked Schweizer's credibility and refused to treat his questions about the Clintons seriously. As then-MRC news analyst Jeffrey Meyer documented at the time:
On Sunday’s This Week, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos interviewed Peter Schweizer, author of Clinton Cash, and repeatedly badgered his guest about the accuracy of his book and chose to focus on Democratic attacks against the author.
During the heated discussion, Stephanopoulos hyped how Democrats accuse Schweizer of having a “partisan interest. They say you used to work for President Bush as a speech writer. You are funded by the Koch brothers.”
Stephanopoulos never appeared interested in the actual substance of Schweizer’s book, which alleges the Clinton Foundation took in millions of dollars in donations in exchange for potential influence with the U.S. government and instead acted as a Clinton defender. The ABC host went so far as to quote an “independent government ethics expert” but didn’t mention he was a beneficiary of far-left billionaire George Soros....
Schweizer, of course, is showing a consistency in raising questions about the potential of both the Clintons' and the Trumps' private business arrangements to cast a cloud on their official actions. Too bad ABC isn't equally consistent in their approach to politicians' ethics.
