Stopping Juvenile Detention:

The A cauldron of conflicts and cronyism

By Barbara Joanna Lucas

Summary : The former fi rst family’s phi- lanthropy has always been a vehicle to pro- mote the careers of the Clintons. It does some good things that help people but in recent years it has functioned more like an unoffi cial campaign headquarters for Hil- lary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid. And if there is one thing the Clintons are good at, it’s getting paid. The Clintons said the char- ity would not accept donations from foreign governments while Mrs. Clinton served as Secretary of State. They must have been crossing their fi ngers behind their backs because it was recently revealed that the Clinton Foundation accepted millions of dollars from foreign governments during Mrs. Clinton’s tenure at the State Depart- ment. Making matters worse, Hillary Clin- ton’s cavalier approach to U.S. national se- curity has also spilled over into her family’s foundation – and a new book called “the most anticipated and feared book of a pres- Hillary and idential cycle still in its infancy” is to be published this month. The Clinton Foun- Before Obama even took offi ce, the Clin- dation may soon dominate news cycles, but ton Foundation’s chairman of the board, not the way the Clintons wanted. Bruce Lindsey, signed a Memorandum of May 2015 Understanding on Dec. 12, 2008 with Val- erie Jarrett, then co-chair of President-elect CONTENTS Obama’s transition team. The document provided that “During any service by Senator The Clinton Foundation he Obama White House has had Clinton as Secretary of State, the Founda- Page 1 little to say about ’s tion will publish annually the names of all egregious violation of her agreement T new contributors.” We now know that the Philanthropy Notes with the Obama administration, even though foundation cast aside its promise to make Page 8 it is President Barack Obama who should be timely disclosure of donations it took in from offended most by the broken pledge. foreign sources. Foundation Watch

And in recent days Reuters discovered that Department business would be spelled out around the world. And they have helped us the Clinton Foundation fi led incorrect Form in the 30,000 e-mails that were deleted. It’s support the work that this foundation does. 990 disclosures with the IRS. All nonprofi ts possible Hillary Clinton was telling the truth … Do I agree with all the foreign policy have to fi le the document once a year, after when she said all of those deleted e-mail of Saudi Arabia? No.” ( New York Times , which it becomes publicly available. As messages were about weddings and yoga. March 20, 2015). a result of Reuters reporting, the Clinton But with the e-mails gone, it’s unknow- Foundation admitted that its IRS fi lings from able, while Hillary is asking us to trust and In late March, Republican National Commit- 2010 through 2012 and those of its Clinton not verify. tee Chairman Reince Priebus sent a letter to Health Access Initiative (CHAI) from 2012 Jarrett, now a White House Senior Adviser. and 2013 are not accurate. The foundation The memorandum further asserted that the Among the questions in the letter were (1) does not rule out the possibility of revisiting State Department would review any paid “At what point did the Administration be- its IRS fi lings going back 15 years. speeches by the secretary’s husband. The come aware that the MOU and the process Obama transition team at the time said in a of vetting Clinton Foundation donors were According to Reuters, “[f]or three years in a statement, “We believe the agreement with fl awed?” (2) “What did the White House do, row beginning in 2010, the Clinton Founda- the Clinton Foundation meets our goals of if anything, to mitigate issues with the Clinton tion reported to the IRS that it received zero transparency and goes above and beyond in Foundation’s donors?” (3) “Was the White in funds from foreign and U.S. governments, preventing confl icts.” House aware that the MOU was insuffi cient a dramatic fall-off from the tens of millions of while Clinton was serving as Secretary of dollars in foreign government contributions The agreement itself may have met those State? If so, were any addendums added reported in preceding years.” It’s suspicious goals—if only the foundation had abided to supplement the MOU?” (4) “Was there to say the least. by it. any independent audit or verifi cation that the Clinton Foundation was abiding by the Shortly after the recent revelations of foreign Foreign Donors MOU’s Donor Disclosure provisions?” (5) money pouring into the Bill, Hillary, and While Hillary Clinton served as Secretary “Were foreign governments that contributed Chelsea Clinton Foundation came reports of State, the governments of Kuwait, Qatar, to the Clinton Foundation given special treat- of the e-mail fl ap. Are the matters linked? Oman, Australia, Norway, Algeria, and the ment or consideration by the White House?” Well, the public cannot know if the potential Dominican Republic all lavished millions of (6) “If the White House had been aware of confl icts regarding foreign donors and State dollars on the Clinton Foundation. While the violations, would the Clinton Foundation acting coy when questioned about most of or Secretary Clinton have been reprimanded Editor: Matthew Vadum these, the Clinton Foundation has admitted it in some fashion for their actions?” Publisher: Terrence Scanlon should have sought approval from the State Department before accepting $500,000 from “The public deserves detailed answers to Foundation Watch the government of Algeria. Whoops. these questions. I request a response to each is published by Capital Research Center, a non-partisan education and in writing,” the RNC chairman continued. research organization, classifi ed by For the entirety of the Clinton Foundation’s “The MOU was billed to the public and Con- the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity. existence, foreign donors made up one-third gress as a pledge toward transparency and Address: of all donors giving more than $1 million the avoidance of confl icts of interest. The 1513 16th Street, N.W. and made up more than half of donors who American people deserve to know whether Washington, DC 20036-1480 gave $5 million or more ( Washington Post , it was nothing more than a memorandum Phone: (202) 483-6900 February 18, 2015). between parties that had no real interest in Long-Distance: (800) 459-3950 either of these goals.” E-mail Address: In fact, Bill Clinton even saw the foreign [email protected] donations from shady countries as a positive. For its part, the White House had little to say Web Site: “I think it is a good thing—for example, the when asked whether the foundation was get- http://www.capitalresearch.org U.A.E. gave us money,” the former president ting money from foreign governments. “I’m Organization Trends welcomes let- said of the United Arab Emirates. “Do we certainly not going to have a response to them ters to the editor. agree with everything they do? No. But from here, but I think that was a letter that Reprints are available for $2.50 pre- they are helping us fi ght ISIS, and they built they sent to the State Department?” White paid to Capital Research Center. a great university with NYU, open to people House spokesman Josh Earnest told the 2 May 2015 Foundation Watch press. “You mentioned both the contents of “We will see a pattern of fi nancial transac- “No, David,” Brzezinski said. “That’s the the letter describing the Clinton Foundation tions involving the Clintons that occurred way the law works, Mika,” Brock replied, and the actions of the Secretary of State at the contemporaneous with favorable U.S. policy saying that individual government agencies State Department. So, I wouldn’t anticipate decisions benefi ting those providing the are allowed to decide how their records a response from here.” funds,” Schweizer writes. should be archived.

When a journalist responded, “But it was Paid by radical billionaire George Soros, the Brzezinski bristled at that answer and said the White House that was supposed to have leftists at the Center for American Progress angrily, “No, actually, David, you don’t have the agreement overseeing it,” Earnest said, and Media Matters for America are doing to give me a lesson on the regulations of the “Well again, for questions about actions by their best to smear Schweizer, who serves as State Department.” the Clinton Foundation I’d direct you to the president of the Government Accountability foundation that does very important work Institute. That nonprofi t declares on its The Center for American Progress, founded around the world, but I don’t have a reaction website that its mission is “to investigate and by Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign manager to the letter.” expose crony capitalism, misuse of taxpayer John Podesta (who was also White House monies, and other governmental corruption Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton), It’s no surprise that a Democratic adminis- or malfeasance.” Schweizer was previously attacked the book in a ThinkProgress blog tration would not be eager to criticize the a consultant to NBC News and the William post by Aviva Shen. Shen doesn’t write much party’s presumptive presidential nominee. J. Casey Research Fellow at the prestigious worth reading but she does point out that the But what’s clear is that typical Clinton cor- . evidence in the book wouldn’t be enough to ruption became an Obama administration convict the Clintons in court, a fact conceded problem thanks to a family that prefers to by the book’s author. explain things after the fact rather than ask After admitting he hadn’t read the book, Me- permission before acting. dia Matters founder David Brock, a former Clinton detractor turned Clinton booster, Other Shady Sources Foreign donors aren’t the only shady And much more potentially damning evi- slammed on MSNBC’s “Morn- sources of funds for the organization. Denise dence is on its way. ing Joe” show. “I think this is a political Rich—ex-wife of billionaire fugitive Marc put-up job, and I can smell it from a mile Rich charged with wire fraud, tax fraud, away,” Brock said. That was too much for As reported last month, tax evasion, and other felonies—gave the the show’s co-hosts, Joe Scarborough and Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and foundation $450,000. Bill Clinton gave a Mika Brzezinski, who then cross-examined Why Foreign Governments and Businesses presidential pardon to Marc Rich on his last Brock on whether it’s fair to consider if the Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich , by ac- day in offi ce. claimed best-selling author Peter Schweizer book might contain information about the is scheduled to be published May 5. The alleged reciprocal relationship between the George Soros’s Soros Foundation, the Euro- book, “a 186-page investigation of donations Clinton Foundation and the State Depart- pean arm of the radical left-wing billionaire’s made to the Clinton Foundation by foreign ment. Brock said it’s a non-issue because Open Society Institute, has also donated. entities — is proving the most anticipated and Mrs. Clinton handed over 55,000 pages feared book of a presidential cycle still in its of her emails from her time in the Obama In December 2008, the Clinton Foundation infancy,” according to the newspaper. administration. reported it received between $1 million and $5 million from Issam Fares, the former Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), now a declared Brzezinski interjected, “That’s not the deputy prime minister of Lebanon and now presidential candidate, said the book con- question,” indicating she was referring to chairman of the Wedge Group, an investment tains “big news” that will “shock people” the 30,000 emails Clinton admitted were fi rm in Houston. Fares was also a supporter and make voters “question” Mrs. Clinton’s deleted. “There’s no answer, is there?” of Hezbollah and of President Bashar Assad candidacy. The volume “asserts that foreign Brzezinski asked. Brock was dismissive in Syria. entities who made payments to the Clinton of the female journalist, replying that the Foundation and to Mr. Clinton through high pages of emails that the State Department The foundation received between $1 mil- speaking fees received favors from Mrs. will eventually release will throw light on lion and $5 million from Friends of Saudi Clinton’s State Department in return,” the Clinton’s offi cial duties. Arabia, a pro-Saudi advocacy group in the Times reports. United States. The foundation also received May 2015 3 Foundation Watch between $1 million and $5 million from they need most—the resources to take care set off the hypocrisy alarm bells because Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who of their families and better their lives. This Mrs. Clinton has long positioned herself as served as president of the United Arab Emir- year, Katrina survivors are in special need of a champion of women’s rights. ates from 1971-2004. In 1999, his family both good information about the EITC and set up the Zayed Center for Coordination the funds to help rebuild their lives. We are The New York Times also reports when she and Follow-Up, which became a haven for extremely pleased that we can work with was at the State Department, Hillary okayed anti-Israel sentiment, terrorist sympathizers, the Clinton Foundation to help displaced a fi nancial transaction that handed control and Holocaust deniers (DiscoverTheNet- families across the country.” over 20 percent of America’s strategically works.org). important uranium resources to Russia after Bill’s Big Speaking Gigs investors gave money to Bill and large dona- The Soros-funded Tides Foundation, which Under the same Memorandum of Under- tions to the Clinton Foundation. This matters mostly acts as a pass-through organization standing with the Obama transition team, because uranium is needed to make nuclear that draws a curtain over ties between donors a designated ethics offi cial from the State weapons and America only has an estimated and various left-wing causes that receive Department’s legal offi ce was to review any 20 percent of the uranium it needs. their money, doled out $48,500 to the Clinton “potential or actual confl ict of interest” for Foundation in 2013, another $12,000 to the Secretary Clinton regarding her family’s From 2005 through 2011 investors in Ura- Clinton Health Access Initiative, and another interests. nium One, a shady Canadian company, $3,000 to the foundation in 2012; as well as reportedly gave money to the Clinton Foun- $19,000 to the Clinton Global Initiative in Bill Clinton delivered 215 paid speeches dation. In 2010 Bill accepted $500,000 from 2011 and $5,000 to the foundation in 2009 across the world while his wife served as an investment bank to give a single speech (WND, March 9, 2015; for more on the Secretary of State, earning $48 million for in Russia. Uranium One stock carried a Tides Foundation, see Foundation Watch, the foundation and other Clinton family “buy” rating with the bank, which had links October 2010). interests. For each of these speeches, he to the Russian government. Eventually received an “ethical waiver” from the State the Kremlin assumed 100 percent control Alarmingly, the Clinton Foundation worked Department, whether the speech was in the over Uranium One through a subsidiary of with the now-defunct Association of Com- United States or overseas, or sponsored by Rosatom, a state corporation owned by the munity Organizations for Reform Now, a U.S. or foreign corporation. Russian government. better known as ACORN. The foundation in 2006 used ACORN to try to persuade The department run by his wife did not fi nd a Then there are the massive fi nancial institu- residents of the Gulf Coast to sign up for single instance where an international speech tions sponsoring the speeches that would the earned income tax credit (EITC) after and consulting work was a confl ict—not even certainly have an interest in currying favor with the Department of State. These spon- Hurricane Katrina. one—according to the government watchdog sors included Goldman Sachs, Bank of group Judicial Watch, which obtained this America, Deutsche Bank, and American “For victims of Katrina, EITC is a powerful information through a Freedom of Informa- Express. Other sectors sponsoring interna- tool to help rebuild lives in the short-term tion Act lawsuit seeking ethics reviews and tional speeches included major players in the and realize big dreams in the long-term,” related documents. energy, automotive, casino, hotel, real estate, Bill Clinton said in a statement announcing technology, media, and health care industries, the partnership. “We can put more money As Hillary was in charge of running according to Judicial Watch. in people’s pockets today, simply by spread- America’s foreign policy, Bill was giving ing the word about this credit and helping high-dollar speeches in China, Russia, Saudi Another sponsor was Renaissance Capital in families with tax preparation. We’re focusing Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Central June 2010, where the former president talked on those who lost so much after Hurricane America, Turkey, Thailand, Taiwan, India, in Moscow about the theme of “Russia and Katrina, because this credit can be the dif- and the Cayman Islands, according to Judicial the Commonwealth of Independent States: ference between fi nancial hardship and Watch. Certainly some of these should have Going Global.” This was in the middle of rebuilding a better life.” raised eyebrows by reviewers at the State De- Hillary’s “reset button” approach to U.S.- partment, considering tenuous U.S. relations Russia relations. The investment bank was ACORN president Maude Hurd said in with Russia and China. And the fact that the focused on Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and the same announcement: “EITC gives low list of donors includes Muslim nations that sub-Saharan Africa ( Washington Examiner , income people in our communities what are known for mistreating women, ought to July 30, 2014). 4 May 2015 Foundation Watch

For Clinton’s speech to a UBS Wealth work she did for Teneo Strategy ( New York the Brotherhood”; and “organiz[e] projects Management event in April 2012 in Chi- Times , Aug. 13, 2013). which will penetrate [the Brotherhood’s] cago, the State Department characterized it prohibited ideology into the decision-making as “approximately 300-400 ultra-high net “So we know that the Obama administration’s in the West … under the guise of ‘general worth clients, prospective clients, and UBS judgment as to what constitutes a ‘confl ict needs of women.’” Nagla Ali Mahmoud, wife Financial Advisers.” of interest’ is skewed, to put it nicely,” of Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist who was Judicial Watch said in a press release about elected president of Egypt in June 2012 and Two years earlier, Clinton spoke at the Mo- its fi ndings. then deposed, is a member of the Muslim hegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, which Sisterhood. Mrs. Abedin is editor-in-chief the State Department review characterized Apparently, some in the State Department of the notoriously pro-Islamist Journal of as “a private speech of up to 350 friends and may agree with Judicial Watch. On April Muslim Minority Affairs . From 1996 to patrons of Mohegan Sun.… The event will 10, the department’s inspector general 2008, Abedin worked as assistant editor of not be open to the public. The event will not announced he was launching an investiga- the Journal . (FrontPageMag.com, March be publicly advertised.” tion into Abedin’s irregular employment 31, 2015) arrangements. Another event reveals how in tune the Clin- And the Clinton Foundation has some ex- tons are with the supposed plight of “income National Security Concerns plaining to do after one of its former employ- inequality” and the poor: Clinton spoke in But as evidence continues to accumulate that ees received a sentence of life imprisonment October 2011 at a San Francisco event for Clinton’s cavalier approach to state secrets in Egypt after being convicted of sedition. the Wells Fargo Private Bank and the Wells may have put U.S. national security in jeop- In 2012 Gehad el-Haddad, “divided his Fargo Family Wealth Group, whose clients, ardy, the shady background of Abedin, who time between volunteering for the Muslim State Department documents explain, “have has known ties to the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood and heading the Cairo offi ce of at least $5 million and $50 million in assets Brotherhood, is barely acknowledged on the Clinton Climate Initiative, but later that respectively.” Capitol Hill. And it’s not clear that it will year began to work full time for the Muslim ever come up. After several Republican Brotherhood.” (Egypt Independent, July 31, The documents obtained by Judicial Watch lawmakers publicly raised concerns about 2012) Appropriately, the name Gehad can show the State Department also approved Abedin in 2012, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also be spelled Jihad . a consulting gig for Clinton with Teneo was enraged. Strategy, a company headed by Clinton A month after Haddad left the Clinton Foun- Foundation adviser Doug Band, with offi ces “These sinister accusations rest solely on dation job for a position with then-Egyptian in Dubai, London, Dublin, Hong Kong, Brus- a few unspecifi ed and unsubstantiated as- President Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Broth- sels, and Beijing. After taking some heat sociations of members of Huma’s family, erhood standard-bearer, the Clinton Global over Teneo’s ties to the failed investment none of which have been shown to harm or Initiative invited Morsi to deliver a major fi rm MF Global, the Clintons ended the deal threaten the United States in any way,” the address. Morsi calls Jews “bloodsuckers” after just eight months. senator said. “These attacks on Huma have and “the descendants of apes and pigs.” Af- no logic, no basis and no merit. And they ter Morsi was overthrown, in 2013 Haddad Teneo Strategy brings up another aspect that need to stop now.” was arrested in Egypt for inciting violence. complicates the whole Clinton Foundation- Haddad was given a life sentence on April 11 State Department nexus, which is Huma Abe- It is a matter of public record that Huma’s of this year, according to the Muslim Broth- din, better known to some as Mrs. Anthony mother, Saleha Mahmood Abedin, is a co- erhood’s offi cial English language website. Weiner. Abedin served under the Secretary founder of the Muslim Sisterhood, a pro- (Ikhwanweb.com, April 13, 2015) of State as deputy chief of staff from Janu- Sharia organization consisting of the wives ary 2009 to June 2012, at which point she of some of the highest-ranking leaders in the Ethics Reviews became a senior adviser and a “special gov- Muslim Brotherhood. Egyptian opposition All of the State Department’s ethics deci- ernment employee” that would be allowed to newspaper Al-Liwa Al-Arabi reports that sions were sent to Hillary’s top adviser represent individual clients and have outside Muslim Sisterhood members: “smuggle Cheryl Mills, a longtime Clinton confi dante, employment. She was a “special government secret documents”; “spread the Brother- who before serving as counselor and chief employee” until February 2013. During that hood’s ideology by infi ltrating universities, of staff for Hillary at the State Department time, Abedin did not disclose what type of schools and homes”; “fulfi ll the interests of May 2015 5 Foundation Watch was a former deputy White House chief of Clinton Foundation. The lawsuit said this the CGI Poverty Alleviation Working Group. staff for Bill. was obscured from the public by Mrs. Clin- Former Clinton National Economic Council ton’s use of a private email server to conduct deputy director Thomas Kalil is chairman offi cial government business. The Foundation identifi ed Mills as one its of the CGI Global Health Working Group. three directors when applying for nonprofi t status in Florida in June 2009. That came fi ve Spanning the Globe The annual conference has included Clinton’s months after Mills began serving as Hillary The Clinton Foundation has $277.8 million Vice President Al Gore, even though the Clinton’s chief of staff at State. Mills was in assets. It took in $144.3 million and doled two are said to have a strained relationship. also listed as a director in Clinton Foundation out $8.8 million in fi scal year 2013. Founda- Others attending are Archbishop Desmond fi lings in 2010, 2011 and 2012, or basically tionSearch ranks it 472nd in the Top 10,000 Tutu, Evangelical Environmental Network for the duration of Clinton’s tenure at the U.S. Foundations by Assets and 4th in Top president Jim Ball, media moguls Rupert State Department, the Washington Free Foundations by Assets for Arkansas. Beacon reported. Murdoch and Ted Turner, current and former world leaders and Hollywood A-listers such The organization was established in 2001 George W. Bush’s White House ethics coun- as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and others. It shortly after the Clintons moved out of the sel Richard Painter told the Free Beacon also draws corporate elites from most of the White House. The stated goal was to “allevi- that such an arrangement is questionable. major Fortune 500 companies and calls on ate poverty, improve global health, strengthen “It would be highly problematic if she was them to buy sponsorships starting at $250,000 economies, and protect the environment.” It a director of the foundation and she was and up to subsidize the foundation’s various has multiple sub-organizations, most notably participating in State Department decisions worthy causes. that could have a fi nancial benefi t to the the Clinton Global Initiative. The Foundation foundation,” Painter said. “If you did do has 350 employees in 180 countries. Another subgroup is the Clinton Health Ac- something that had a direct and predictable cess Initiative, which is in the center of the fi nancial benefi t for the foundation, you get The organization says its mission is “to foreign donations controversy. The CHAI into criminal statutes” (Washington Free strengthen the capacity of people in the was established in 2002 to help fi ght HIV/ Beacon, April 1, 2015). United States and throughout the world to AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other dis- meet the challenges of global interdepen- Another conservative watchdog group, Free- eases in the developing world. The health dence. To advance this mission, the Clinton dom Watch (run by Judicial Watch founder initiative was started by Clinton inner-circle Foundation has developed programs and Larry Klayman) is actually suing in federal member Ira C. Magaziner, who was the chief partnerships in the following areas: Health court, alleging the Clintons and their founda- strategist behind the failed HillaryCare initia- tion of “systematically and continuously ... Security with a focus on HIV/AIDS; Eco- tive ( New York Times , Aug. 13, 2013). conducted a corrupt enterprise” over 10 years. nomic Empowerment; Leadership Develop- The civil suit was fi led under the Racketeer ment and Citizen Service; Racial, Ethnic and Reuters fi rst reported in mid-March that Infl uenced and Corrupt Organization Act, or Religious Reconciliation.” RICO, in U.S. District Court for the Southern CHAI confi rmed that it had not released a District of Florida, where Freedom Watch is complete list of donors since 2010. Mrs. The Clinton Global Initiative, often called located ( , March 25, 2015). Clinton had pledged to the Obama admin- CGI, was established in 2005 as a nonprofi t istration that the State Department would be The lawsuit alleges that while serving as and is known for elaborate annual summits able to review all proposed new or increased Secretary of State, Clinton withheld docu- that every four years include speeches from contributions to the CHAI by foreign govern- ments requested under FOIA regarding State both presidential candidates. Gene Sperling, ments, but while she served in the Obama ad- Department waivers given to business and an economic adviser for both Clinton and individuals doing business with Iran. The ministration, CHAI received millions in new Obama, is the chairman of the CGI Education Freedom Watch lawsuit further alleges the or increased payments from seven separate Working Group. Former Clinton National Clintons actually sold access to U.S. govern- foreign governments with no review. Five Security Council staffer Gayle Smith heads up ment offi cials in return for donations to the of the governments began donating to the 6 May 2015 Foundation Watch foundation after Hillary became Secretary of Foundation raked in $214 million but still ing President Clinton when “allegations State, while two more at least doubled their ran a shortfall of $8 million. of an affair with intern Monica Lewinsky contributions. CHAI admitted only that it surfaced,” she later “dressed him down in The Times reported that the organization front of the cabinet” after Clinton “admitted should have informed the State Department staff was concerned it was too reliant on that he had had an improper relationship” of a $340,000 contribution from Switzerland Bill Clinton for buck raking, and so pulled with Lewinsky. (Reuters, March 19, 2015). in Hillary and Chelsea with a goal of raising the endowment to $250 million. It should be said that the Clinton Foundation The other donor-governments were Great has done some legitimate charitable work. Britain, Australia, Swaziland, Papua New As the latest Clinton campaign competes with Still, so much of the foundation seems like Guinea, Sweden, and Rwanda. the foundation for funds, it’s worth realizing little more than a cauldron of confl icts and how much duplication exists between the cronyism. Even if we assume the motives two. The headline of a recent column by of the foundation’s founders are completely The Clinton Climate Initiative was estab- ’s Kimberly Strassel selfl ess, the organization has functioned to lished in 2006; it pushes climate alarmism summed it up: “The Clinton Foundation keep the Clintons relevant after leaving the and promotes energy retrofi ts for homes and Super PAC. It’s past time to drop the fi ction White House. That has helped lead to greater businesses, and various alternative energy that the Clinton Foundation is a charity.” millions in speech fees and jet setting and schemes. On a front that should please First mingling with the hottest in Hollywood and Lady Michelle Obama, there is the Alliance “Most family charities exist to allow self- smartest corporate titans. made Americans to disperse their good for a Healthy Generation, which is fi ght- fortune to philanthropic causes,” Strassel There is nothing wrong with any of that, so ing childhood obesity, supporting healthy wrote. “The Clinton Foundation exists to long as the Clintons do it on their time. The schools programs, and attempting to curb allow the nation’s most powerful couple to problem—not a new one—is that the Clin- junk food in vending machines. The Clinton use their not-so-subtle persuasion to exact tons seem entirely oblivious to the problems Economic Opportunity Initiative was set up global tribute for a fund that promotes the of entangling public service with personal in 2002 to promote economic progress in the Clintons.” profi t. Given their past lack of accountability, United States by helping “individuals become one might ask, Why should they? reported that Clinton more fi nancially stable and businesses in fundraiser Susie Tompkins Buell, a member Barbara Joanna Lucas is a freelance writer underserved communities to grow.” The of George Soros’s shadowy billionaires’ club in Virginia and a frequent contributor to Clinton Development Initiative was set up known as the Democracy Alliance, donated Capital Research Center publications. She in 2005 to promote mostly development in $10 million to the Clinton Foundation (for blogs at The Sharp Bite (TheSharpBite. Africa (DiscoverTheNetworks.org). more on the Democracy Alliance, see Foun- blogspot.com). dation Watch, October 2014). In February, Financial Mess the foundation’s chief development offi cer, FW Bill Clinton never tires of reminding the Dennis Cheng, resigned to be a fundraiser for public that he was the last president to sign Hillary’s 2016 campaign. And in March of a balanced federal budget. But the fi nancial this year the Wall Street Journal reported that management of the foundation is less than Donna Shalala, one of the more controversial exemplary, as the New York Times reported members of Bill Clinton’s cabinet, will take Please remember in August 2013. over as CEO of the foundation later this year when her tenure as president of Miami Capital Research Center The foundation ran defi cits in 2007 and University ends. When she served as Health 2008 because it faced competition—Hillary and Human Services Secretary, Shalala, a in your will and estate planning. Clinton’s presidential campaign. That may longtime Clinton loyalist, “thought it was a very well repeat itself over the next two mistake to run the effort to overhaul the U.S. Thank you for your support. years. The foundation had multi-million- health-care system from the White House, dollar shortfalls several other years as well. and she opposed Mr. Clinton’s decision to Terrence Scanlon, President The Times reported that in 2012, the Clinton sign a sweeping welfare law.” After defend- May 2015 7 Foundation Watch PhilanthropyNotes

President Obama and fi rst lady Michelle Obama donated $70,712 to charitable causes in 2014, 14.8 percent of their reported income of $477,383, the Washington Post reports. The largest dona- tion ($22,012) went to Rockville, Md.-based Fisher House Foundation , which provides inexpensive housing for the families of military personnel undergoing medical treatment. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden , gave a comparatively paltry $7,380 (1.9 percent) last year on total income of $388,844.

AARP ’s charitable arm, AARP Foundation , recently took in a three-year $3 million federal grant from the taxpayer-supported Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The funds come out of CNCS’s Social Innovation Fund , a community organizing slush fund that the Obama administration uses to enrich its left-wing friends and allies in the nonprofi t community. The $3 million that AARP will allocate to subgrantees is earmarked for the Women’s Economic Stability Initiative, or WESI, an “economic stability” program aimed at low-income women ages 50 to 64 in select Southern and Southwestern states. Whether the program actually accomplishes anything, much of the govern- ment money is likely to end up in the hands of left-wing community organizers. Since 2001, AARP Foundation has received close to $1 billion in federal grants, according to USAspending.gov.

After years of not making profi t, has decided to formally incorporate as a nonprofi t, editor Rich Lowry announced. “The advantage of the move is that all the generous people who give us their support every year will now be able to give tax-deductible contributions, and that we will be able to do more fundraising, in keeping with our goals to keep growing in the years ahead.” The magazine will soon merge with its nonprofi t sister organization, National Review Institute , and a few months later a unifi ed National Review will emerge as a nonprofi t corporation. “We want to go out and tap the conservative philanthropic community to get even bigger and better,” Lowry said.

Goldman Sachs does a terrible job managing mutual funds, a New York Times analysis revealed. The review determined that most mutual funds run by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo “have underperformed their basic benchmarks over the last 10 years.” Goldman’s per- formance was the worst. “Just 12 percent of its mutual funds did better than an analyst-assigned bench- mark during a 10-year period. That compared to 25 percent of mutual funds at Wells Fargo, 31 percent at JPMorgan Chase and 38 percent at Morgan Stanley.” In addition, Goldman’s average annual fees were the second-highest among the banks, weighing in at 1.2 percent. Morgan Stanley was even more fee-happy, topping the list because it charges 1.24 percent.

8 May 2015