Simmi Aujla / Politico / November 5, 2010
MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has been suspended indefinitely without pay after POLITICO reported that he made three campaign contributions to Democratic candidates.
MSNBC President Phil Griffin said in a statement Friday: "I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay."
Olbermann made campaign contributions to two Arizona members of Congress and failed Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway ahead of Tuesday's election.
Olbermann, who acknowledged the contributions in a statement to POLITICO, made the maximum legal donations of $2,400 apiece to Conway and to Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords. He donated to the Arizona pair on Oct. 28 — the same day that Grijalva appeared as a guest on Olbermann's "Countdown" show.
Grijalva, a prominent liberal who was just declared a winner in his race Thursday night, was in a tight contest against tea-party-backed candidate Ruth McClung when he appeared on "Countdown" — one of several appearances he made on the show.
NBC has a rule against employees contributing to political campaigns, and a wide range of news organizations prohibit political contributions — considering it a breach of journalistic independence to contribute to the candidates they cover.
Olbermann, who has become one of the most prominent liberal commentators on cable television, has been a critic of the political donations made by Fox News' parent company, News Corp., which contributed $1 million each to a pair of organizations trying to defeat Democratic candidates.
Griffin also tweaked rival network Fox over the contributions. "Show me an example of us fundraising," Griffin told The New York Times last month.
POLITICO discovered the Olbermann donation to Grijalva in a Federal Election Commission filing, and when MSNBC was asked for a comment, it forwarded a statement from Olbermann:
"One week ago, on the night of Thursday October 28 2010, after a discussion with a friend about the state of politics in Arizona, I donated $2,400 each to the reelection campaigns of Democratic Representatives Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords," Olbermann said. "I also donated the same amount to the campaign of Democratic Senatorial candidate Jack Conway in Kentucky."
In his statement, Olbermann said he wasn't using his influence to solicit any donations for the candidates.
"I did not privately or publicly encourage anyone else to donate to these campaigns, nor to any others in this election or any previous ones, nor have I previously donated to any political campaign at any level," Olbermann said.
Under FEC rules, an individual donor may give only $2,400 to a candidate per general election campaign. The FEC filings for Olbermann's contributions list an address that is a Mailboxes Etc. storefront in New York, and it also lists his occupation as a newscaster for NBC Television.
MSNBC declined to comment on Olbermann.
"Countdown With Keith Olbermann" started in 2003 as a traditional news show but evolved into a left-leaning opinion program. Olbermann has tripled MSNBC's ratings at 8 p.m., and much of the network's recent evolution has followed his lead. In the past two years, MSNBC's left-leaning opinionated hosts have helped propel it past CNN in prime time, and even lately during the daytime, too.
MSNBC has branded Olbermann as a prominent face in its new "Lean Forward" marketing campaign, which has been designed to show that the network clearly wants to be the cable news voice of the left, but the company has a policy that warns against political contributions.
A 2007 MSNBC.com story laid out the rules for the network regarding such contributions:
"Anyone working for NBC News who takes part in civic or other outside activities may find that these activities jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist because they may create the appearance of a conflict of interest. Such activities may include participation in or contributions to political campaigns or groups that espouse controversial positions. You should report any such potential conflicts in advance to, and obtain prior approval of, the president of NBC News or his designee."
News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, came under fire from liberals during the past election cycle for its contributions to the Republican Governors Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
On Oct. 7, Olbermann had House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) on his show to discuss the donations. At one point, he asked Clyburn: "Is there a legislative response to the idea that there is a national cable-news outlet that goes beyond having a point of view and actually starts to shill for partisan causes and actually starts to donate to partisan groups of one party?"
Olbermann's contributions came amid a brutal campaign season for Democrats.
Giffords had appeared on Olbermann's program in May, as did Conway. During his more recent broadcasts, Olbermann also made frequent references to the "Aqua Buddha" controversy involving Conway's Republican Senate rival, Rand Paul, who handily won election Tuesday.
Grijalva had seemed to be in a safe race until the month before the election, when he became targeted by outside groups. In mid-October, national Democratic interests began putting money into his district to compete with fundraising for McClung from outside conservative groups.
On Oct. 28, Grijalva went on Olbermann's show and fielded questions about a story linking profit motives of private prisons to Arizona's new immigration crackdown. It was the sixth time Grijalva had appeared on "Countdown" in a little more than the past six months.
Grijalva not only opposed the immigration law — known as S.B. 1070 — but inadvertently put himself in electoral jeopardy by calling for an economic boycott of his own home state in response, a move that didn't go over so well with cash-strapped Arizonans.
"It's almost extraordinary to believe that once we got past the original phony reason for it, which was security at the border, when obviously it didn't pertain to that whatsoever, that the real reason behind that was well, this is to intimidate people of Hispanic descent. Well, it turns out there's an even more base, cynical reason behind it. Am I wrong about this?" Olbermann asked. "Is there anything you can tell us about the relationship between these private prisons and the lawmakers who supported this monstrosity of a bill?"
Grijalva responded: "It is a wonderful I-told-you-so moment."
