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Ethics? No, Thank You: Clinton Foundation Drops Ban on Foreign Government Donations
During her term as Secretary of State, the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Foundation did not accept donations from foreign governments. Now, with Hillary is a pseudo-candidate for president, the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Foundation has started to accept donations from foreign governments. Still Ready for Hillary in 2016? ‘Cause here’s what you’re gonna be getting.
Conflicts of Interest?According to The Wall Street Journal, the foundation has already received funding from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, and Germany. A Canadian government agency that supports the Keystone XL oil pipeline has also given money to the foundation.
No potential conflicts of interest here, right? Let’s see:— The Canadian Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development agency donated between $250,000 and $500,000 (the Clinton’s only report donations in such ranges.) The Journal, however, claims the exact amount of the donation was somewhere around $480,000.
— Last year, the United Arab Emirates donated somewhere between $1 million and $5 million.
— Saudi Arabia’s donations total between $10 million and $25 million.
— The Australian government has given between $5 million and $10 million in 2014. It also gave in 2013, when its donations fell in the same range.
— Qatar’s government committee preparing for the 2022 soccer World Cup gave between $250,000 and $500,000 in 2014. Qatar’s government had previously donated between $1 million and $5 million.
— Oman, which had made a donation previously, gave an undisclosed amount in 2014. Over time, Oman has given the foundation between $1 million and $5 million.
A Familiar Face
But of course, the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Foundation is a stand-alone charitable organization, not a campaign PAC. Funny thing — earlier this month the Clinton Foundation’s chief development officer Dennis Cheng left the organization to serve as the finance director for Clinton’s expected presidential campaign. Since joining in 2011, Cheng raised $248 million for the foundation. He also worked as deputy chief of protocol in Clinton’s State Department and was Clinton’s New York State finance director on her 2008 campaign.
Is it Just Me?The Washington Post had this to say:
The [Bill, Hillary and Chelsea] Foundation of course provides luxury travel for Hillary Clinton and her spouse, a high-visibility platform and access to mega-donors. She is beholden in a meaningful sense to its donors. No presidential candidate can justify a conflict of interest of this magnitude; it is not merely the appearance of conflict but actual conflict of interest. (emphasis in the original)
Travel expenses for the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation last year totaled more than $8 million, a greater amount than the nonprofit reported in previous years, according to Internal Revenue Service filings. That figure represents 10 percent of the Foundation’s total expenses.
The travel expenses listed did not cover Hillary’s public travel for paid speeches, which were covered by the entity she was speaking to, according to contract terms.
VOX added:The fact that the foundation previously stopped seeking such donations on the grounds that it would be improper given her role as Secretary of State only makes things worse… The problems with this move are so obvious that it naturally raises questions about the quality of the advice that Clinton is getting. Has she surrounded herself with people who aren’t comfortable telling her she’s making a mistake? Is she ignoring people who are raising obvious red flags? Is her husband and whoever he relies on for counsel just off the reservation? Whatever the answer, it doesn’t look good. Her 2008 campaign famously suffered from discipline and cohesion problems and this is not a great start to 2016.
Chelsea is also pulling in significant amounts of money for not doing much. More information about Hillary’s complex finances are reported here by The New Yorker.
Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. The views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) in their private capacity.
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Rich Bauer said...
1A(chicken)pox on both their houses: Bush v the Bush
“Content to hold majorities in both houses of Congress, it could be the Republicans don’t really want the responsibility of governing – because then they’d have to come through on their promises to actually reduce the power of government and solve the country’s problems. And Hillary Clinton isn’t that far from Jeb Bush when you get right down to it: Common Core, immigration, a more efficient welfare state – and, most importantly, an interventionist foreign policy that has us invading countries and “enforcing peace and stability” from Libya to the straits of Taiwan. Better to block someone like Sen. Rand Paul than to actually win a presidential election.”
Bush v Hillarious: What difference does it make?
Absolutely nothing.
02/20/15 1:36 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
2Marc and Chelsea for copresidency in 2040! Jews and women will vote in hoardes. I’m on board. I’ll be dead by then of course by my grandchildren can fly that banner. They can vote from a large chunk of driftwood housing bobbing in the moat.
02/20/15 1:54 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
3Hillarious should just “Move-On:
https://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/255434483?access_key=key-9cKM0G95jAQQXZ67xjWK&allow_share
02/20/15 2:19 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
4Move-On, Hillarious
Mr. Obama has said multiple times that “we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards,” as though the two were incompatible. They are not. The nation cannot move forward in any meaningful way without coming to terms, legally and morally, with the abhorrent acts that were authorized, given a false patina of legality, and committed by American men and women from the highest levels of government on down.
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/14401-hillary-clintons-legacy-as-secretary-of-state
02/20/15 2:53 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
5America in a nutshell:
http://www.people.com/article/woman-adjusting-bra-holster-shoots-self
02/20/15 3:19 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
6Does anyone else here think that the push for Warren to run is ludicrous just because she has “lady parts” to use a line from PVB’s book. Why this obsession for a female president? There are probably super qualified males who should run but they might figure what the point would be when everyone either has a hard on and a wide on for a female president. Will America ever grow up?
02/20/15 5:02 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
7Bauer- your link about the bra discharge noted the deceased was a member of a Christian motorcycle group. I see a lot of Harley’s scooting around with a prominent sticker stating: 9-11-01. We Will Never Forget! I’ve never seen one Jap bike with 8-6-45 (Hiroshima) We will Never Forget. I ride a Ninja but never claimed to be a Shintoist.
02/20/15 5:59 PM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
8John said “I ride a Ninja but never claimed to be a Shintoist.”unquote
Goddammit..that’s almost as good as that bottle of beer HC is holding..!!!
bartender..I’ll have whatever HC is drinking.. but save the bottle for my collection.
02/21/15 12:08 AM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
9John said:
quote”They can vote from a large chunk of driftwood housing bobbing in the moat.”unquote
OMG. The PREMIER definition of the DFCOTP. I’m not joking.
02/21/15 12:13 AM | Comment Link
teri said...
10Can someone ask Bill where the Help Haiti money went? I assume it’s in the Clinton slush-fund or the hedge fund he and Tony Blair have started up, but it sure would be nice if someone would put him on the spot about it. And then sue his lyin’ ass to get it to the Haitians where it belongs.
02/21/15 1:00 PM | Comment Link
Helen Marshall said...
11“Has she surrounded herself with people who aren’t comfortable telling her she’s making a mistake??
If she cannot figure out that this is a mistake all by her little lonesome, that’s all anyone needs to know.
02/21/15 4:56 PM | Comment Link
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