After using an "ethics expert" from the Sunlight Foundation – an organization funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros – to dismiss the Clinton Foundation scandal on Thursday's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Andrea Mitchell appeared on Friday's Today using the same so-called expert and a statement from airplane manufacturer Boeing to reject corruption allegations against Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Mitchell began her Today report by declaring: "The Clinton campaign is pushing back hard today against charges in the new book, Clinton Cash, that as secretary of state Clinton did favors for her family's foundation."
After citing the accusation that then-Secretary Clinton "pushed Russian officials to sign a multi-billion-dollar airplane agreement with Boeing" during a 2009 trip to Russia, Mitchell turned to the corporation for a defense of Clinton:
Boeing told NBC News it has contributed about $1 million a year to the foundation, primarily for schools in Haiti since 2010. And Boeing says, "Secretary Clinton's advocacy for American goods and services, including Boeing airplanes, is consistent with U.S. policy and advocacy across administrations for several decades in order to help level the playing field against fierce foreign competition."
Mitchell then touted how "a government ethics expert agrees," replaying the Nightly News soundbite from Soros-backed talking Bill Allison: "There's no smoking gun, there's no evidence that she changed a policy based on the donations to the foundation."
Mitchell wrapped up the segment by parroting talking points from the 2016 Democratic candidate: "The Clinton campaign says no one has produced a shred of evidence that Hillary Clinton took any actions as secretary of state to support the interests of the foundation donors."
While in her Thursday night report Mitchell highlighted a disturbing charge that the Clintons facilitated the takeover of U.S. uranium supplies by a Russian-backed company, that accusation vanished from the Today story.
Here is a full transcript of Mitchell's April 24 report on Today:
7:11 AM ET
MATT LAUER: Hillary Clinton is facing some new scrutiny this morning over both her time as secretary of state and her family's foundation. How will that all impact her presidential campaign? NBC's Andrea Mitchell is in Washington this morning. Andrea, good morning to you.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Hillary's "Clinton Cash" Problem; Faces Growing Conflict of Interest Claims]
ANDREA MITCHELL: Good morning, Matt. The Clinton campaign is pushing back hard today against charges in the new book, Clinton Cash, that as secretary of state Clinton did favors for her family's foundation.
At a women's conference in New York's Lincoln Center, Hillary Clinton took center stage.
HILLARY CLINTON: You, too can be a champion for change. It doesn't matter whether you're a student or an artist, a journalist, an ambassador, maybe even a future president.
MITCHELL: But she is still trailed by a series of controversies, starting with Benghazi. At Clinton's request, Republicans will have her testify in public next month about any private e-mails regarding the attack.
REP. TREY GOWDY [HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON BENGHAZI]: So I don't know who to ask other than her. And frankly I think the burden of persuasion is on her given her e-mail arrangement.
MITCHELL: Then there's that new book, Clinton Cash, written by Peter Schweizer, a former Bush aide, charging the Clintons with conflicts of interests. The book cites a 2009 trip to Russia, claiming Hillary Clinton "pushed Russian officials to sign a multi-billion-dollar airplane agreement with Boeing." "Two months after Boeing won the contract, the company pledged $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation."
Boeing told NBC News it has contributed about $1 million a year to the foundation, primarily for schools in Haiti since 2010. And Boeing says, "Secretary Clinton's advocacy for American goods and services, including Boeing airplanes, is consistent with U.S. policy and advocacy across administrations for several decades in order to help level the playing field against fierce foreign competition."
A government ethics expert agrees.
BILL ALLISON [SUNLIGHT FOUNDATION]: There's no smoking gun, there's no evidence that she changed a policy based on the donations to the foundation.
MITCHELL: The book claims that the Clintons did not disclose all of the donations and speech fees, as they had promised. But the Clinton campaign says no one has produced a shred of evidence that Hillary Clinton took any actions as secretary of state to support the interests of the foundation donors. Matt and Savannah.
LAUER: Alright, Andrea, thank you very much.
By the way, the author of that book, Peter Schweizer, will be here in our studio live on Monday morning.
