A forthcoming book detailing questionable foreign donations made to the Clinton Foundation has piqued the interest of some of the biggest news group in the country — but not everyone in media is interested.
Peter Schweizer, a Hoover Institution fellow and president of the Government Accountability Institute, suggests in his new book, Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich, that during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, the State Department doled out political favors to countries that donated big dollars to her family’s charitable foundation.
The New York Times, the Washington Post and Fox News each have reached exclusive agreements with Schweizer to follow up on his book, which is set to be released on May 5.
However, both ABC News and CBS News’ “60 Minutes” reportedly declined similar offers when Schweizer approached them with his material, according to Politico.
A spokesman for “60 Minutes” declined to answer whether the investigative news unit had passed on Schweizer’s research but also suggested that the long-running news show is investigating the new Clinton scandal. “We do not discuss the stories we are working on,” he told the Washington Examiner’s media desk.
Asked whether there was any truth in Politico’s claim that “60 Minutes” turned down Schweizer, the CBS spokesman would only say, “You have my response.”
Spokespersons for ABC News and the news group’s political director, Rick Klein, declined to return the Examiner’s multiple requests for comment.
The Times and the Post’s separate agreements with Schweizer appear to come with some hesitation.
“We had access to some material in the book, but we wanted to do our own reporting,” the Times’ Washington bureau chief Carolyn Ryan told reporters Monday.
The Post confirmed in a conversation with the Examiner that it had also reached an exclusive agreement with Schweizer, contrary to what Politico originally reported.
“We made an arrangement with Peter Schweizer’s publisher so we could read his book before publication because we are always willing to look at new information that could inform our coverage,” Post editor Cameron Barr told the Examiner. “Mr. Schweizer’s background and his point of view are relevant factors, but not disqualifying ones. What interests us more are his facts and whether they can be the basis for further reporting by our own staff that would be compelling to our readers. There is no financial aspect to this arrangement.”
In its initial report on the media groups that had reached agreements with the conservative author, Politico reported specifically that the Post “did not have an exclusive arrangement [sic] with Schweizer, and had turned down such an offer.”
Politico has since corrected this error.
Schweizer, who has caught flack from the right side of the aisle for exposing shady backroom deals made by Republican members of Congress, has raised lawmakers’ eyebrows by suggesting in his book that many of the countries that donated to the Clinton Foundation during Hillary Clinton’s tenure received preferential treatment from the State Department.
The Times, which received an early copy of the book, quotes Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as referring to Schweizer’s opposition research as “big news” that will “shock people.”
The Grey Lady also suggested that the conservative author’s book is “potentially more unsettling” than previous reports on questionable Clinton behavior, both because of the nature of the allegations and because major news groups, including Fox, the Post and the Times itself, appear interested in following up on Schweizer’s findings. Clinton is widely considered a shoo-in to win the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.
Questions regarding foreign donations made to the Clinton Foundation have dogged the former first lady since well before she announced last Sunday that she would run again for president. Clinton unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in 2008 and went on to hold the top spot at Foggy Bottom in President Obama’s first turn.
With the release of Schweizer’s book, additional questions about the existence of a State Department pay-to-play scheme may continue to follow the Democratic presidential candidate’s newly announced campaign — even as other distractions, including her “spontaneous” road trip to Iowa and a pit stop at a Chipotle in Ohio, continue to provide members of the press with entertaining sideshows.
