Hannity, Morris, Scarborough, Matthews hyped indictment of Clinton fund-raiser Rosen, then ignored his acquittal

Though government prosecutors stated affirmatively that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) was not aware of the alleged campaign finance violations that led to the indictment of David Rosen, former finance director for Clinton's 2000 senatorial campaign, conservative pundits aggressively hyped the indictment as a potential scandal that could threaten Clinton's political career. But many of these same pundits have yet to report that a jury cleared Rosen of all charges on May 27:

Fox News host Sean Hannity acknowledged that Clinton was never charged in the case, but on the May 10 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, he asked, “So will this case bring Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions to a halt?” He further stated: “We'll be watching this one closely.” On May 13, Hannity referred to the Rosen trial as “a case that could damage Hillary's political ambitions.”

Though he dedicated an entire segment of the May 31 edition of Hannity & Colmes to discussing Clinton, Hannity has yet to note Rosen's acquittal.

Fox News political analyst Dick Morris stated on the March 3 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor that Rosen's trial “could be very dangerous for her [Clinton] because she may well have known about it.” On the April 22 edition of Hannity & Colmes, he said, “this one looks pretty serious” and “this could be it for Hillary.” Though Clinton was never charged, Morris remarked, "[I]f she's convicted of a felony, she can't even vote, much less run for office." And in a May 18 New York Post column, Morris wrote: “The Justice Department case against David Rosen, national finance chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2000 Senate race, is getting stronger, increasing the odds the aide will start cooperating with the government -- which could be disastrous for the senator's ambitions.”

Morris has yet to note Rosen's acquittal, though he appeared on the May 31 edition of Hannity & Colmes specifically to discuss Clinton's political future.

MSNBC host and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough said on the February 24 edition of Scarborough Country that the allegations “could put a speed bump right in the path of a future presidential bid for Hillary Clinton.” On May 9, Scarborough called Rosen's trial an “important, important case” because “Hillary Clinton has become such an important figure in the Democratic Party, since she's taken control of the Senate seat in 2000.”

Scarborough has yet to report on Rosen's acquittal in this “important case.”

MSNBC host Chris Matthews remarked on the May 10 edition of Hardball with Chris Matthews: “It's a long way from here to 2008, and Hillary running for president, having a major investigation of a fund-raiser where it looks like somebody gave her [Clinton] an extra $800,000 secretly. And sure, her claim is that she didn't know about it. And this guy [Rosen] is on trial for knowing about it. Where does it put her?”

Matthews has not mentioned Rosen's acquittal.