On Thursday morning, NBCNews.com's First Read proclaimed: "Appearance of Scandal: Why Today Isn't a Good Day For The Clinton Campaign." The article began with a rundown of "all of the negative stories as it relates to the Clinton Foundation and money," highlighting two separate reports of possible conflicts of interest and one report of tax problems for the charity.
Despite such a wave of bad news for Bill and Hillary Clinton, Thursday's NBC Today completely ignored the controversies.
Even Clinton operative turned ABC Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos managed to cover at least one of the stories.
First Read – assembled by Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd, NBC senior political editor Mark Murray, and reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell – highlighted the latest developments:
The New York Times reports that a Canadian mining company – whose principals donated heavily to the Clinton Foundation over the years – sold its uranium business to Russians, which had to be approved by Hillary Clinton's State Department and other U.S. agencies;
The Washington Post writes about the overlap between the companies and organizations that paid former President Bill Clinton millions in speaking fees but also donated to the Clinton Foundation;
And Reuters says that the Clinton charities are refilling their tax returns "after a Reuters review found errors in how they reported donations from governments."
The journalists concluded:
Now all of these stories are complex and murky. But what they all reveal – especially the New York Times' piece on the uranium deal – is the APPEARANCE of a scandal. Even if you take the Clintons at their word that there was no quid pro quo with these donations to the Clinton Foundation to buy influence, that's not what the donors may have been thinking.
They added: "How would the Clinton Foundation operate if she BECOMES president, especially...with foreign entities believing it's a way to gain favor with the Clinton? It's a question she needs to answer."
Explaining "the real damage here for the Clintons," the article noted: "The Clintons became wealthy due to paid speeches, and the Clinton Foundation raked in millions due to celebrity/access reasons....These stories do undermine – politically – Hillary's attempt to refashion herself as an economic populist. The Clintons made it because of power and access."
If only such pointed analysis actually made it into the broadcast network's on-air coverage.
MSNBC's Morning Joe led the 6:00 a.m. ET hour on Thursday with the new Clinton Foundation bombshells.
