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.
ABC has faced criticism for its liberal bias, particularly in the wake of the September presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, during which star anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis exclusively fact checked Trump. Stephanopoulos's generosity could alleviate that criticism. ABC's $15 million contribution to the Trump library is 200 times more than the $75,000 Stephanopoulos gave to the Clintons, a Free Beacon analysis found.
Reached for comment, Stiles said he was pleased with the Stephanopoulos-led Trump contribution.
"Of course I was delighted to learn ABC News and George Stephanopoulos were making such a generous donation to Donald Trump that will help him build the biggest, most beautiful presidential library the world has ever seen," he told the Free Beacon. "Better than the Clinton library, which looks like a sci-fi trailer park."
"I'm also seething with rage, for obvious reasons," Stiles continued. "I lost my job in 2016 after the esteemed reporter Dylan Byers exposed me for buying $514 worth of Trump hats. That's 0.003 percent of $15 million, and I've never called anyone a rapist on television or been sued for defamation."
"I guess not everyone is cut out to be a journalist."
Before his stint at ABC, Stephanopoulos, who is best known for his diminutive size and "little-boyish mini-legs," served as a senior adviser in the Clinton White House. There, he oversaw a team known as the "Stephanopoulites," a group of young Clinton staffers that included former Biden White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
Stephanopoulos earns a rumored yearly salary of $25 million at ABC, one he reportedly retained in a contract extension he signed earlier this month—even as Good Morning America, the show he cohosts, suffers a ratings free fall. Much like the Clinton ordeal, Stephanopoulos has failed to disclose the Trump library contribution on air. He ended Sunday's episode of another show he anchors, This Week, without mentioning the settlement.
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