Today marks a decade since former President Bill Clinton pointed to one of two reasons he believes his wife, Hillary, impacted his 2016 election bid.
Ten years ago, Clinton Cash: An untold story of how foreign governments and businesses created Bill and Hilary Rich was released. This revelation spurred an FBI investigation into the Bill and Hillary Clinton Family Foundation. The book caused quite a stir in Washington, drawing extensive media attention, with significant articles appearing in New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. I wonder how much this book took the Clinton campaign team by surprise. Perhaps this could explain the campaign’s effort to tie her opponent, Donald Trump, to Russia.
The book also inspired a Graphic Novel – Style Treatment, a special on Fox News Prime Time, and a documentary film.
To mark the book’s 10th anniversary, Clinton joined the author Peter Schweizer and co-host Eric Eggers in an episode of Drill Down. Schweizer is a co-founder of the Government Accountability Institute and currently hosts his show, War Room.
In 2015, Bannon played a pivotal role in aggressively promoting the book. While Hillary served as Secretary of State, he crafted a major story on the sale of uranium to Russian entities. Is it possible for media to back investigative journalism books like this nowadays?
“It was incredible. You and your team really pulled everything together,” Bannon remarked. “That’s part of what made the book so impactful,” he continued, noting how the media landscape has evolved since. The objective of Clinton Cash was never to report on anything that might benefit Donald Trump, even though similar narratives surrounded Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020, while attention drifted from the deterioration of Joe Biden’s mental acuity in 2024.
In a recent podcast, former NBC host Chuck Todd expressed that mainstream media missed the boat on covering Joe Biden’s issues. “I refuse to accept that dumb idea because it’s a right-wing narrative aimed at tarnishing the press,” Todd insisted.
Bannon argues that new media should look beyond Todd’s partisan perspective. Even though Clinton Cash and Schweiser’s other later works received minimal attention from traditional media, they still managed to wield significant influence. “The lesson is simple… if you report well, people will discover the stories,” he added.
“I believe our media needs improvement,” Bannon noted. “We must ensure we’re not just following the trends; we should avoid repeating past mistakes. We need to provide fair coverage of what President Trump is doing.”
Schweiser concurred, suggesting that “corruption is pervasive in both directions.”
“One major misconception the media has propagated is that the Trump movement is solely personality-driven and that he can act with impunity,” Schweiser commented. “Many Trump supporters resonate with his reform agenda and desire accountability regarding corruption. It’s part of our flawed humanity.”
Clinton Cash demonstrates perilous shortcomings overlooked by mainstream media, which vowed to never repeat similar lapses.
For additional insights about Peter Schweizer, listen to the Drill Down podcast.
