OPINION:
The Clintons’ have been involved in an elaborate pay-to-play scheme, auctioning off their personal time and government access, to the highest bidder. The Clinton Foundation was the vehicle used by foreign governments and dignitaries, in which they would donate money to in exchange for time with the potential next president, the former president, or beneficial treatment from the U.S. government while Hillary Clinton was serving as Secretary of State.
Although quid-pro-quo is notoriously hard to prove, here are the top 10 “coincidences” the American public is supposed to believe, where donors gave out money, with no expectation of anything in return.
1. Clinton ally aided the wife of an FBI agent who was investigating Mrs. Clinton’s email server
The political organization of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe gave nearly $500,000 to the 2015 election campaign of the wife of an official at the FBI who helped oversee the investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s email server, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. All in all, aid directly under Mr. McAuliffe’s control or directly influenced by him, donated more than a third of all the campaign funds the FBI official’s wife fundraised, the Journal sad.
2. King of Morocco agreed to donate $12 million to Clinton Foundation and host a Clinton Global Initiative summit only if Mrs. Clinton attended a 2015 meeting
“No matter what happens, she [Hillary Clinton] will be in Morocco hosting CGI on May 5-7, 2015,” Huma Abedin, a top Hillary Clinton aide, wrote in a November 2014 email wrote to several other advisers, including campaign chairman John Podesta, which was released by WikiLeaks. “Her presence was a condition for the Moroccans to proceed so there is no going back on this.”
In January 2015, Abedin followed up with another email explaining in more detail why the future Democratic nominee couldn’t simply back out of the event in Morocco: “Just to give you some context, the condition upon which the Moroccans agreed to host the meeting was her participation. If hrc was not part of it, meeting was a non-starter. CGI also wasn’t pushing for a meeting in Morocco and it wasn’t their first choice. This was HRC’s idea, our office approached the Moroccans and they 100 percent believe they are doing this at her request. The King has personally committed approx. $12 million both for the endowment and to the support the meeting. It will break a lot of china to back out now when we had so many opportunities to do it in the past few months.
Mrs. Clinton was ultimately convinced by her team the optics of the meeting wouldn’t look good so close to her presidential launch, so it was canceled.
3. Bill Clinton gets $1 million birthday present from Qatar for 5 minute meeting request
“[Qatar] would like to see WJC ’for five minutes’ in NYC, to present $1 million check that Qatar promised for WJC’s birthday in 2011,” an employee at The Clinton Foundation said to numerous aides, including Doug Brand, according to an email released by WikiLeaks. “Qatar would welcome our suggestions for investments in Haiti — particularly on education and health. They have allocated most of their $20 million but are happy to consider projects we suggest. I’m collecting input from CF Haiti team.”
4. “Friends of Bill” (FOB) rewarded at State Department after 2010 Haiti earthquake
The State Department gave special attention to Bill Clinton’s friends after the Haiti earthquake. While Mrs. Clinton’s State Department sent on emails from Friends Of Bill (FOB) to senior officials coordinating the U.S. response to the Haiti earthquake, offers of aid from people that did not have connections to the Clintons were cast aside.
5. Crown Prince of Bahrain (a “good friend” of the Clinton Foundation) sought special access to Secretary Clinton
A June 23, 2009, email exposed by Judicial Watch, from Doug Band to Ms. Abedin noted that the Crown Prince of Bahrain (a “good friend of ours”) was asking to see Mrs. Clinton. The Crown Prince had contributed between $50,000 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation and spent $32 million on a scholarship fund launched through CGI. Ms. Abedin responded that the prince had sought a meeting through “normal” channels but had been turned down. Less than 48 hours after Mr. Band had asked her, Ms. Abedin said “we have reached out through official channels,” and meeting would commence.
6. Hillary Clinton’s State Dept. Gave Clinton Foundation Donors Weapons Deals
“Under Clinton’s leadership, the State Department approved $165 billion worth of commercial arms sales to 20 nations whose governments have given money to the Clinton Foundation, according to an International Business Times analysis of State Department and foundation data,” reports IBT. “That figure—derived from the three full fiscal years of Clinton’s term as Secretary of State (from October 2010 to September 2012)—represented nearly double the value of American arms sales made to the those countries and approved by the State Department during the same period of President George W. Bush’s second term.”
7. Clinton State Dept. approved transfer of 20 percent of U.S. Uranium to Russian Government, as Clinton Foundation took in $145 million in donations from investors of the deal
According to a New York Times investigation, Mrs. Clinton’s State Department was one of nine agencies that had to approve the Uranium One deal to the Russian government, which it did.
“The sale gave the Russians control of one-fifth of all uranium production capacity in the United States,” the Times reported. According to their analysis, $145 million in donations was given to the Clinton Foundation by uranium executives lobbying for the deal. Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock, the Times reported.
8. A For-Profit University Put Bill Clinton on Its Payroll and received an increase in funding by Mrs. Clinton’s State Department
According to a report by Bloomberg: “in 2009, the year before Bill Clinton joined Laureate [Universities], the nonprofit received 11 grants worth $9 million from the State Department or the affiliated USAID. In 2010, the group received 14 grants worth $15.1 million. In 2011, 13 grants added up to $14.6 million. The following year, those numbers jumped: IYF received 21 grants worth $25.5 million, including a direct grant from the State Department.”
After Mrs. Clinton became secretary of state, Mr. Clinton received $17.6 million in payments from a for-profit university, CNN totaled. It was not clear what Mr. Clinton did serving as chair for the university.
9. The Clintons’ have made at least $26 million in speaking fees from entities who are top Clinton Foundation donors
“Bill Clinton was paid at least $26 million in speaking fees by companies and organizations that are also major donors to the foundation he created after leaving the White House, according to a Washington Post analysis of public records and foundation date,” the Post reported.
The report added, “Bill Clinton was paid more than $100 million for speeches between 2001 and 2013, according to federal financial disclosure forms filed by Hillary Clinton during her years as a senator and as secretary of state.”
10. Clinton Foundation cashed in as Sweden lobbied Clinton’s State Department on Iranian sanctions
Bill Clinton’s foundation set up a fundraising arm in Sweden that collected $26 million in donations at the same time that country was lobbying Hillary Clinton’s State Department to forgo sanctions that threatened its thriving business with Iran, according to a report by The Washington Times.
The Swedish entity, called the William J. Clinton Foundation Insamlingsstiftelse, was never disclosed to or cleared by State Department ethics officials, even though one of its largest sources of donations was a Swedish government-sanctioned lottery.
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