The scandal that Republicans hoped would take down Hillary Clinton has already sputtered and fizzled as the media has largely debunked the book Clinton Cash as strong on allegations, but weak on facts.
The main allegation is that Hillary Clinton was influenced by donations to The Clinton Foundation to use her position as Sec. of State to block the purchase of uranium mine.
Time magazine noted that the allegation first reported in The New York Times was not supported with evidence, “The suggestion of outside influence over U.S. decisionmaking is based on little evidence — the allegations are presented as questions rather than proof. The deal’s approval was the result of an extensive interagency process that required the assent of at least nine different officials and agencies.”
NBC News backed off of the Clinton Cash story too, “Indeed, upon reflection, that Times article doesn’t hold up that well 24 hours after its publication. But if there’s a legitimate criticism of the Clintons here — especially when it comes to the other articles about the Clinton Foundation and Bill’s speaking fees (here and here) — it’s that they were sloppy, bordering on being greedy.”
ABC News, which received an advance copy of the book, blunted called out the lack of facts, “The book offers no proof that Hillary Clinton took any direct action to benefit the groups and interests that were paying her husband.”
The author of the book, Peter Schweizer, worked as a foreign policy adviser to Sarah Palin. He was a fellow at the Koch-funded Hoover Institute, a former speechwriting consultant for George W. Bush, and he has a history of botched hyper-partisan reporting.
The New York Times and Washington Post latched on to Clinton Cash potentially because they were led to believe that a companion book was coming out about Jeb Bush. However, Schweizer’s publisher said that there is no Jeb Bush book coming out.
When boiled down, the Clinton Cash scandal is nothing more than a series of empty allegations. Clinton Cash is equal to the Benghazi scandal and every other conspiracy based witch hunt that Republicans are engaging in.
The book has not been released yet, but instead of blowing up into a major story that will rock the 2016 election, Clinton Cash is poised to join the dusty pile of failed Clinton conspiracies of years past.
Rand Paul has been talking up Clinton Cash as the game changer that would disqualify Hillary Clinton from office, but what the episode demonstrated is how out of touch with reality Republicans are, and how eager some in the mainstream press are to enable the GOP’s delusions.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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