In another show of media objectivity, tonight’s host for the Democratic Presidential Debate, CNN’s Anderson Cooper is listed as a past member of the Clinton Global Initiative – a project of the Clinton Foundation. Also listed of course was ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, who was forced to make an on-air apology for failing to disclose contributions to the Foundation. Membership in the Initiative is by invitation only and costs $20,000. Spokespersons for CGI reported that members of the media were not required to pay $20,000. While we now Stephanopoulos contributed to the Foundation, it is unknown if Cooper did also.
It is certainly clear that by membership, Cooper allowed the Clinton’s to use his name for fundraising. Already, CNN has reported that Cooper does not want a debate where the candidates attack each other, even though that was the express intention of CNN for the Republican debate. CNN and Cooper have demonstrated a complete lack of objectivity for this charade of a “debate.”