The operations of the Clintons’ main non-profit, the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, aka the Clinton Global Initiative, aka The Clinton Foundation, have come under increasing scrutiny, particularly over their lack of overall transparency, and their acceptance of significant foreign government donations that some feel are little more than payola.
Now, there is more.
Broken Promises of Transparency
According to Reuters, in 2008, Hillary Clinton promised president-elect Barack Obama there would be no mystery about who was giving money to her family’s charities. She made a pledge to publish all the donors’ names on an annual basis to ease concerns that as Secretary of State she could be vulnerable to accusations of foreign influence. The Clinton Foundation did indeed publish a list of donors at first, but, in a breach of the pledge, the charity’s flagship health program, which spends more than all of the other foundation initiatives put together, stopped making the annual disclosure in 2010.
Officials at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and the foundation confirmed to Reuters no complete list of donors to the Clintons’ charities has been published since 2010. CHAI was spun off as a separate legal entity that year, but the officials acknowledged it still remains subject to the same disclosure agreement as the foundation. CHAI published only a partial donor list, and only for the first time, and only this year.
A spokesperson for Hillary Clinton declined to comment. Bill, who also signed on to the agreement with the Obama administration, was traveling and could not be reached for comment, his own spokesman said.
It gets worse.
No State Department Review
Reuters also raised questions about a second assurance Hillary Clinton made to the Obama administration: that the State Department would be able to review any new or increased contributions to CHAI by foreign governments while she served as Secretary of State. The Clintons said at the time the pledge was intended to defuse accusations that foreign governments might use such donations to earn favors. Payola.
By the time Clinton left office in February 2013, the charity had received millions of dollars in new or increased payments from at least seven foreign governments. Five of the governments came on board during her tenure as Secretary of State, while two doubled or tripled their support in that time.
You know what comes next.
The State Department said it was unable to cite any instances of its officials reviewing or approving new money from any foreign governments. A CHAI spokesperson confirmed that none of the seven government donations had been submitted to the State Department for review. The spokeswoman said CHAI did not believe State needed to review the donations. One explanation offered was that the new money was for “expansions of existing programs.”
The White House declined to answer questions about whether the Obama administration was aware of CHAI not disclosing its donors or submitting new donations from foreign governments.
Quick Summary
Hillary Clinton was running the State Department from a hidden, private email server, outside of all government accountability as Secretary of State, while taking tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments that abuse women and gays, while promoting herself as a champion of women’s and LGBTQ rights. Did I miss anything?
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Sokollu said...
1Peter, great piece.
Please continue to probe what involvement State career people had or declined to have in the HRC scandals. Did they just let Clinton and her coterie run amok (looks likely)? Don’t people such as Pat Kennedy have some legal responsibility to oversee security and financial requirements?
04/3/15 12:23 PM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
2Notwithstanding Peter’s post.., I’ve got $25 that says Clinton will announce her candidacy within 15 days….
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/hillary-clinton-campaign-headquarters-brooklyn-116649.html?hp=l2_4
04/3/15 2:13 PM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
3quote” Did I miss anything?”unquote
yes. They just renamed CHAI to HC2016PAC.
04/3/15 2:24 PM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
4“Don’t people such as Pat Kennedy have some legal responsibility to oversee security and financial requirements?”
Ha! That’s like saying Holder should be held responsible for letting OBumfuck run amok.
04/3/15 2:27 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
5“The White House declined to answer questions about whether the Obama administration was aware of CHAI not disclosing its donors or submitting new donations from foreign governments.”
Translation: the bitch is on her own.
04/3/15 3:07 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
6Perhaps the only candidate who can finally remove Hag Hillary from contention is another woman-even a Republican. The Ready For Hillary apostles will be in a real bind since a younger smart female in either party and as an independent will make Hillary look old and an ideological cliche.
04/3/15 9:27 PM | Comment Link
Sokollu said...
7Two points:
Check out this great closely-related piece on Diplopundit: http://diplopundit.net/2015/04/03/littlesis-hrc-complex-corporate-ties/
And, at the risk of sounding curmudgeonly, I tend to disdain comments that include stupid name calling such as “OBumfuck” and “Hag”. Imputed gayness, if that’s really the point, doesn’t strike me as a reason to denounce Obama (there are plenty of others)and I strongly oppose HRC not because of her age or appearance but because she’s a liar and probably a crook.
04/3/15 9:46 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
8Sokollu said: Forgive us for our occasional slang references to various political aspirants. I think you need to accept the fact that Hillary is a lesbian. Oh my God! And she is married and has children. How could that be? Obama is a clueless clown. Most vying for political power are total assholes. If that terms offends you stay off this site. John Poole.
04/3/15 11:35 PM | Comment Link
wemeantwell said...
9Easy does it friends. There are so, so many things to poke at Hillary over, but sexuality isn’t one of them. Let her be with that. Asshole is gender neutral, so let’s stick with that.
04/3/15 11:53 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
10PVB Nothing wrong with being an out lesbian but closeted makes one very dangerous. Even a closeted hetero can be a danger to others!
04/4/15 2:56 AM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
11PVB: I appreciate having my comments included on this site. I now know I should place closeted before lesbian when referring to Hillary Rodham Clinton and explain it is of course a speculation. The adjective adds to her duplicity, Thanks.
04/4/15 11:27 AM | Comment Link
Interactive Guide to Corporate Donors, Political Favors and the Clinton Charities | Ghosts of Tom Joad - Peter Van Buren said...
12[…] also shared how Clinton lied about her promise to disclose her donors, and how she would have the State Department review things and then did […]
04/6/15 12:32 PM | Comment Link
Hillary Shillary: A Deeply Compromised Presidential Candidate | The Contrary Perspective said...
13[…] Peter Van Buren notes, the Clintons have already broken their promises of transparency with respect to donors and their donations. It’s say one […]
04/9/15 10:45 AM | Comment Link