In shelling out $75,000 to the politically identified Clinton Foundation, Stephanopoulos has betrayed that compact, torched the journalism-cred he has acquired in the past two decades, and obviously forgotten the lessons in political savvy he learned as a member of Bill Clinton’s inner circle. Throughout the interview, Stephanopoulos apologized profusely for failing to disclose his contributions to viewers, including during an interview with author Peter Schweizer, whose book "Clinton Cash," alleges that donations to the foundation may have influenced some of Hillary Clinton's actions as secretary of state.  Older version of the story: 
 
 George Stephanopoulos, the chief anchor of ABC News, apologized on Thursday for not telling viewers or his bosses about $75,000 in recent donations to the Clinton Foundation. In an initial statement of contrition on Thursday morning, Stephanopoulos said he made the donations "in support of the work they're doing on global AIDS prevention and deforestation, causes I care about deeply." Instead, he said he "believed that the donations already were a matter of public record" because his name is listed among donors on the Clinton Foundation's website. As my POLITICO colleague Dylan Byers reported today, ABC News’ “This Week” and “Good Morning America” host Stephanopoulos has donated a total of $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation, something he had not previously disclosed to viewers or his employers. Prior to joining ABC News, he served as communications director and senior adviser for policy and strategy to President Clinton. Republican Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that Stephanopoulos should be prohibited from moderating any debates during the 2016 presidential campaign. “We stand behind him,” the network also offered, which is corporate-speak for we will bind George in barbed wire and dump him into a surging storm sewer and drive off into the night the minute he becomes an intolerable distraction. ABC News called the oversight an “honest mistake,” a sentiment Stephanopoulos amplified in an afternoon interview with Byers. CORRECTION: ABC News initially stated that George Stephanopoulos had given a total of $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation. I find it implausible that he did not understand in 2012, 2013 and 2014 (the years he gave the Clinton Foundation cash), that his contributions would be an issue with his employers and his viewers once discovered—even if they were just sitting there buried on a website for anyone to stumble upon.
– George Stephanopoulos is engaging in damage control today after acknowledging that he donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation but didn't disclose that fact even while reporting on the foundation in his capacity as an anchor at ABC News. (Politico and the Washington Free Beacon first reported the donations.) The first hit: He's bowing out of ABC's Republican debate. "I'm sorry because I don't want anything to compromise my integrity or the standards of ABC News," he tells the New York Times. The newspaper notes that Republicans in particular have long accused Stephanopoulos—who co-hosts Good Morning America and moderates Sunday's This Week program—of a bias going back to his days as an aide to Bill Clinton. ABC is not taking disciplinary action. Stephanopoulos tells Dylan Byers of Politico that he now regrets the donations, "even though I did it for the best reasons." And though he's recusing himself from the February debate, he tells CNNMoney that he'll continue to cover the 2016 election. One particularly vocal critic is Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer, who accused Stephanopoulos of a "massive breach of ethical standards." Stephanopoulos previously interviewed the author about his book, which alleges that donations to the foundation influenced Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Plenty of other criticism is surfacing, however: In another post at Politico, media writer Jack Shafer asserts that Stephanopoulos, "who has excelled at both politics and journalism, appears to have failed both professions with a single transgression."