NBC seems to of have enough of the political scandal which involved an apparent pay-for-play scheme between the Clinton Foundation and the Hillary Clinton’s State Department. During Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News the network failed to mention the scandal at all, even though competitor CBS found new connections. “Clinton's fundraising highlights the apparent blurry lines between her family's charitable work and political ventures,” reported CBS’s Juliana Goldman, “Of the 15 fundraisers Clinton has held over the last week, more than half have been hosted by donors who have also given to the foundation.”
The step by NBC to stop reporting on the Clinton Foundation comes after Nightly News spent the previous evening defending it. Correspondent Andrea Mitchel described the scandal as merely, “A headache for the Clinton campaign that could last until the election and beyond.” Mitchell also noted that, “This would not necessarily violate laws or ethical agreements the Clintons signed.”
Even though Goldman did draw attention to the new connections between the fundraiser attendees and foundation donations, she seemed to be upset that Clinton would have put herself in that position at all. “Her absence [from the campaign trail] has kept her from turning the page on controversies over her e-mail and the Clinton Foundation,” Goldman stated on CBS Evening News.
Meanwhile on ABC’s World News Tonight, correspondent David Wright talked but the fundraiser as a way for Clinton to make it through firestorm:
DAVID WRIGHT: Tonight, under attack, Hillary Clinton's getting a little help from her celebrity friends. Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel hosted a star-studded fundraiser -- $33,000 a ticket. Sports legend Magic Johnson and Cher are raising money, too. Cher even took some pot shots at Donald Trump.
CHER: I've been watching him speak, you know, with the Teleprompters. And it's like, do you remember "Fun with Dick and Jane"? It's like a racist "Fun with Dick and Jane."
Wright even turned to former President Bill Clinton to give him a hand. The ABC reporter played a clip of Bill defending his foundation saying, “We're trying to do good things. If there's something wrong with creating jobs and saving lives, I don't know what it is. I have nothing to say about it, except I'm very proud.”