Stopping Juvenile Detention: The Clinton Foundation 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 Bill Clinton 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 Hillary Clinton’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- Hoover Institution.