Posted by Jed Lewison on Fri Apr 18, 2008 at 6:00 AM Pacific

Clinton pushed story to Stephanopolous long before Hannity

George Stephanopolous  is rightfully catching a lot of grief for having asked Barack Obama about William Ayer especially because Sean Hannity urged him to pose the question.

But it's worth remembering that even before Hannity put the topic in front of Stephanopolous, ABC News  reported that the Clinton campaign itself was pushing the "story" in the middle of February, if not before. So while Hannity might have talked about it on air with Stephanopolous on Tuesday, it wasn't anything new to Stephanopolous or ABC News.

Stephanopolous also knew that Hillary Clinton herself had a bit of a similar situation -- also reported by ABC back in February and amplified today.

Asked today if Sen. Clinton thought it was wrong for her husband to pardon Evans and Rosenberg [domestic terrorists convicted in the 1980s], a Clinton campaign spokesman refused to answer the question.

... [the spokesman] added that, "Bill Ayers is unrepentant of what he did…and that is a difference, of course, between Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg."

But when Evans was released after Bill Clinton pardoned her, she told the Austin American-Statesman, "I'm not repentant. That's for sure. I wouldn't go about it the same (violent) way." But "we still need solutions, and we still need justice just as badly as we ever did."

The entire Ayers discussion has been B.S., of course. But if we are going to have it, Stephanopolous should at least have been fair enough to point out that (a) the Clinton camp has been pushing this story for two months and (b) the Clintons have far greater exposure on this issue than Barack Obama.

Ultimately, the thing that really damns Stephanopolous' integrity isn't that he asked the question at the suggestion of Sean Hannity. The thing that really damns his integrity is that he knew that the Clinton campaign had been pushing the story, and he knew that they were far more vulnerable to attack than Barack Obama -- and yet he said nothing.

Some journalists will close ranks and defend Stephanopolous, but the smart ones will dig deeper and demand a full accounting from him -- because his blunder put their integrity on the line as well.

Clinton pushed story to Stephanopolous long before Hannity

George Stephanopolous  is rightfully catching a lot of grief for having asked Barack Obama about William Ayer especially because Sean Hannity urged him to pose the question.

But it's worth remembering that even before Hannity put the topic in front of Stephanopolous, ABC News  reported that the Clinton campaign itself was pushing the "story" in the middle of February, if not before. So while Hannity might have talked about it on air with Stephanopolous on Tuesday, it wasn't anything new to Stephanopolous or ABC News.

Stephanopolous also knew that Hillary Clinton herself had a bit of a similar situation -- also reported by ABC back in February and amplified today.

Asked today if Sen. Clinton thought it was wrong for her husband to pardon Evans and Rosenberg [domestic terrorists convicted in the 1980s], a Clinton campaign spokesman refused to answer the question.

... [the spokesman] added that, "Bill Ayers is unrepentant of what he did…and that is a difference, of course, between Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg."

But when Evans was released after Bill Clinton pardoned her, she told the Austin American-Statesman, "I'm not repentant. That's for sure. I wouldn't go about it the same (violent) way." But "we still need solutions, and we still need justice just as badly as we ever did."

The entire Ayers discussion has been B.S., of course. But if we are going to have it, Stephanopolous should at least have been fair enough to point out that (a) the Clinton camp has been pushing this story for two months and (b) the Clintons have far greater exposure on this issue than Barack Obama.

Ultimately, the thing that really damns Stephanopolous' integrity isn't that he asked the question at the suggestion of Sean Hannity. The thing that really damns his integrity is that he knew that the Clinton campaign had been pushing the story, and he knew that they were far more vulnerable to attack than Barack Obama -- and yet he said nothing.

Some journalists will close ranks and defend Stephanopolous, but the smart ones will dig deeper and demand a full accounting from him -- because his blunder put their integrity on the line as well.

The Jed Report Home Page

© Jed Lewison