Keep Your Enemies Closer
Hillary Clinton is courting a Pennsylvania primary endorsement from an unlikely source: the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a newspaper owned by the Clintons' erstwhile archenemy, banking heir Richard Mellon Scaife. Once described by the Clinton White House as the "Wizard of Oz" behind what Senator Clinton called a "vast right-wing conspiracy" to smear the couple, Scaife published stories implying foul play in the death of Clinton aide Vince Foster, which investigators ruled a suicide.
But that was then. Now Hillary is running for president, and last week she gave a lengthy interview to the paper's editorial board and used the occasion to bash Barack Obama for his ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The Tribune-Review posted video excerpts of her remarks on its Web site along with a picture of her sitting next to Scaife. Scaife's lawyer and editorial-board member Yale Gutnick told NEWSWEEK that Clinton "made a deep and favorable impression" and that Scaife was "very impressed with what she had to say." The paper, he said, is waiting to see if Obama also appears in person before deciding whom to endorse.
Clinton's chat with Scaife is the latest twist in what looks like a concerted campaign to schmooze, if not neutralize, a man she once considered a deadly foe. Last summer Bill Clinton invited Scaife and Christopher Ruddy, author of Foster conspiracy stories, to lunch at his Harlem office. The result: Ruddy publicly praises him, and Scaife donated to a Clinton charity. Hillary Clinton's campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said that the rapprochement with Scaife represents her willingness "to try to move beyond the fights of the '90s."
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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