Accusations That Hillary Clinton Doled Out Favors To Clinton Foundation Donors Dominated The News Cycle The Day The New York Times' Story Appeared

The New York Times Alleged Clinton Foundation Donors Influenced Hillary Clinton's State Department's Decision To Sign Off On Uranium One.  An April 23 piece by The New York Times suggested that donations to the Clinton Foundation may have influenced Hillary Clinton's State Department, which signed off on the sale of Uranium One, a Canadian company with uranium mining claims in the U.S., to Rosatom, a Russian atomic energy agency. The Times alleged that Clinton Foundation donors may have benefited from the deal. [The New York Times, 4/23/15]

Cable News Networks' Evening Programs Spent 2 Hours And 40 Minutes Covering Allegations Of Hillary Clinton's Involvement In The Uranium One Deal. On the day the Times story was published, evening programming on cable news networks included heavy coverage of the alleged connection between Hillary Clinton's State Department and Clinton Foundation, according to a Media Matters' count. Fox News Channel devoted a total of almost two hours -- 1 hour and 50 minutes -- to the story, while MSNBC spent a total of 50 minutes on the story. CNN's evening shows did not cover the story.

Nightly Broadcast News Programs Devoted Significant Time To Allegations That Clinton Foundation Donors Influenced Uranium One Deal. According to Media Matters' count, broadcast news networks spent a combined 4 minutes and 53 seconds covering the Times' allegations the day the story ran. ABC World News devoted nearly two minutes to the story, while NBC Nightly News devoted nearly three minutes. CBS Evening News did not cover the allegations.

NBC News: New York Times Article “Doesn't Hold Up That Well 24 Hours After Its Publication.” According to an April 24 First Read column on NBCNews.com, the Times article didn't “hold up that well 24 hours after its publication.” NBC detailed the Clinton campaign's response to the Times' allegations:

Hillary wasn't involved in the State Department's review; it is the assistant secretary of state for economic, energy, and business affairs who makes the call;

The main Clinton Foundation donor, Frank Giustra, sold his stake in the Canadian mine business in 2007, so before Hillary became secretary of state;

The State Department was one of nine U.S. agencies to review the sale. [NBCNews.com, 4/24/15]

Media Are Silent After The Washington Post Published A Report Detailing Jeb Bush's Questionable Business Dealings

Washington Post: Jeb Bush “Dogged By Decades Of Questions” About His Involvement With Moving Water Industries. On June 28, The Washington Post published an article asserting that Jeb Bush “often benefited from his family connections and repeatedly put himself in situations that raised questions about his judgment and exposed him to reputational risk.” The Post revealed that, in 1989, Bush was retained to help Moving Water Industries (MWI) secure an $80 million business deal in Nigeria, after which, “MWI was found to have made dozens of false claims to the U.S. government about its dealings in Nigeria, according to a civil jury verdict in a case brought by the Justice Department”:

Today, as he works toward his run at the White House, Bush touts his business experience as a strength that gives him the skills and savvy to serve as the nation's chief executive. He has said he “worked my tail off” to succeed. As an announced candidate, Bush soon will be making financial disclosures that will reveal recent business successes and show a substantial increase in his wealth since he left office as Florida governor in 2007, individuals close to the candidate told The Post.

But records, lawsuits, interviews and newspaper accounts stretching back more than three decades present a picture of a man who, before he was elected Florida governor in 1998, often benefited from his family connections and repeatedly put himself in situations that raised questions about his judgment and exposed him to reputational risk.

Years after Bush's visit to Nigeria, MWI was found to have made dozens of false claims to the U.S. government about its dealings in Nigeria, according to a civil jury verdict in a case brought by the Justice Department. MWI has denied the allegations and appealed the verdict. Bush was not a party to the lawsuit.

Five of his business associates have been convicted of crimes; one remains an international fugitive on fraud charges. In each case, Bush said he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing and said some of the people he met as a businessman in Florida took advantage of his naiveté. [The Washington Post, 6/30/15]

Cable News Networks' Evening Programming Fell Completely Silent On Bush's Questionable Business Dealings The Day After The Post's Publication. According to a Media Matters' count, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News Channel were completely silent during their evening programming, neglecting to devote any coverage to Jeb Bush's questionable business dealings the day after the Post published its story.

Broadcast News Networks' Evening Programming Did Not Cover Bush's Business Dealings One Day After The Post Published Its Story. According to a Media Matters' count, broadcast news networks' evening programming -- including ABC World News, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News -- did not devote any coverage to the Post's story detailing Jeb Bush's questionable business dealings the day after the Post published its story.

Methodology

Media Matters searched the Nexis database of transcripts of evening (defined as 5 p.m. through 11 p.m.) programs on cable news networks, including MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News Channel, as well as broadcast news networks, including ABC, CBS, and NBC. We used the search terms “Clinton AND cash OR foundation OR uranium” to identify evening news programming coverage on April 23, 2015 of the Times' allegations. We used the search term “Bush” to identify evening news programming coverage on June 29, 2015 of Jeb Bush's business dealings. We used an internal database to review and time all coverage.