Collin Anderson of the Washington Free Beacon offers an amusing observation about a leading legacy media partisan.
Nearly a decade ago, ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos faced criticism for his failure to disclose a trio of $25,000 contributions to the Clinton Foundation. But those contributions pale in comparison to the $15 million ABC News agreed to donate to Donald Trump’s future presidential library to settle a defamation case prompted by Stephanopoulos’s on-air remarks.
Trump sued ABC in March, days after Stephanopoulos repeatedly stated during an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) that Trump had been found “liable for rape.” On Saturday, ABC finalized a settlement agreement with the president-elect in which the network agreed to donate $15 million to Trump’s future library and to reimburse Trump for $1 million in legal fees.
Stephanopoulos, who personally signed the agreement, also issued an apology for his false remarks.
It’s not the first time he’s apologized in the wake of a contribution to a presidential foundation. A month before Trump’s ride down the golden escalator, in May 2015, a Washington Free Beacon report revealed that the former Clinton spokesman had made three undisclosed $25,000 donations to the Clinton Foundation between 2012 and 2014.
Though Stephanopoulos routinely covered the Clintons—and took part in on-air discussions about the foundation’s controversial relationship with foreign donors—he failed to disclose the contributions.
Stephanopoulos acknowledged the donations after then-Free Beacon digital managing editor Andrew Stiles contacted ABC for comment about them.
Stephanopoulos issued a statement of apology shortly thereafter—but not to the Free Beacon. Instead, he handed the story to journalist Dylan Byers, then of Politico, who published a piece under the headline, “George Stephanopoulos discloses $75,000 contribution to Clinton Foundation.” The Washington Post‘s Erik Wemple criticized the move, and Byers later got back at Stiles in a now-deleted exclusive report revealing Stiles bought roughly $500 worth of “Make America Great Again” hats online.
