Turmoil at Clinton Foundation: A $2 billion honey pot extracted from venal influence-seekers

American Thinker ^ | 03/02/2015 | Thomas Lifson

[SeekAndFind]

The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, a $2 billion honey pot of money extracted from a mix of the venal influence-seekers and the charitable, attracts a lot of flies. Unsurprisingly, it appears that battles already are breaking out over control of the lucre. Chelsea Clinton, whose name was added to the foundation, it appears has attempted to install her own people, only to be rebuffed by those closely connected to her parents’ political rise.

Politico Magazine has a lengthy report on the recent termination of Eric Braverman as CEO.  Braverman, who was Chelsea Clinton’s boss during her brief employment at McKinsey & Company, was brought in to install more professional management of the nonprofit, and perhaps (my speculation) to head off questions of slush fund-like behavior, such as financing millions of dollars a year in luxury travel for the probably Democrat candidate for president in 2016. 

In the words Kenneth Vogel, Braverman had only a “brief, and occasionally fraught tenure trying to navigate the Clintons’ insular world.”

Some brief excerpts:

At the foundation, sources say, Lindsey and other longtime Bill Clinton confidants hampered Braverman’s reform efforts by warning the former president not to allow too many changes that could be interpreted as a course correction. The result was that Braverman would develop consensus around reforms, but, when he tried to implement them, the old guard would try to undercut him, say people familiar with his tenure. They say he lacked the political background or allies to navigate between the Clintons and their sometimes divergent power bases. (snip)

[bgill]

Chelsea Clinton, whose name was added to the foundation, it appears has attempted to install her own people, only to be rebuffed by those closely connected to her parents’ political rise.

Chelsea will always be seen as a 12 yo kid. She has never had the strength to go for the power. Give it up, Chels, and find a life outside your parents' shadow.

[SeekAndFind]

I won’t be surprised to see Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky’s name included there sometime.

[blueunicorn6]

Money laundering. Where is Qadaffi’s fortune?

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

It takes time to learn to be a world-class grifter. Chelsea is early on the learning curve.

[Liz]

As the world erupts around us, Repubs are staking out their positions for the edification of American voters.

But Hillary is strangely silent---perhaps the reason is she has to double-check w/ all her donors first---she can't say anything that will interrupt the flow of hundreds of millions into the Clinton Foundations.

In fact, the 2016 Democrat candidate is not Hillary---its thousands of Clinton Foundations' donors---govts, corporations, companies, global govt agencies, non-profits, foundations, and individuals----lying in wait to get pay back---with interest.

These financial deals have turned the Clinton Foundations into illegal Super-Pacs---affording the Clintons tons of financing for their endless political ambitions....there's 200 paid staff on-board The Clinton Make-A-Buck Express as we type.

Clinton donors are lying in wait for payback...... for Hillary to wield her presidential pen to unleash zillions of tax dollars.....with interest.

(more Clinton finagling below)

[Liz]

(Clinton finagling cont)

Throughout their long careers in "public service," Hillary and Bill have made out like bandits....by monetizing their offices.

CLINTON POLITICS AND PROFITEERING: Boeing CEO questioned on donations to Clinton foundation Boeing's CEO faced pointed questions about its charitable donation to the tax-exempt Clinton Foundation in the same year that then-Secy of State Hillary Clinton advocated on Boeing's behalf on an official tax-financed trip to Russia.

(POSTER'S NOTE: Some might say it was common to advocate for US business---but then very few previous advocates had a presidential campaign on the burner----nor did they have three tax-exempt foundations panhandling donations from corporations.)

David Almasi, shareholder and representative of the National Center for Public Policy Research think tank, asked Boeing the question, and gave an indication of the kinds of challenges that companies could face as Hillary weighs a run for president. Dozens of major corporations have made charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation in recent years.

Almasi called the Boeing donation a "clear conflict of interest" that seemed "reckless and unnecessary." (According to Almasi's notes, CEO McNearney called an implication that the donation might have been legally questionable "beyond the pale.")

Boeing contributed $900,000 to the Clinton family foundation (there are three) just months after Clinton had traveled to Russia, where she made what she called a "shameless pitch" for a state-owned Russian company to buy Boeing passenger jets. Boeing won the $3.7 billion Russian contract in June 2010. (Some facts excerpted from wahingtonpost.com report.)

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Secy of State Hillary's incessant globe-trotting raises new questions about her motives....since it is well-known her global travels contributed nothing to US foreign policy.

Hefty corporate donations to the Clintons' tax-exempt foundations are nice...... but exchanging valuable US ntl security info for campaign contributions......that could really add up.

(CACKLE) and to think the airheaded State Dept sorority sister could not name EVEN ONE of Hillary's accomplishments at State?

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And just who cleaned out the State Dept's bank accounts? News reports say the State Department announced it has "no idea" what happened to $6 billion used to pay its contractors..... a special “management alert” warned “significant financial risk and a lack of internal control at State has led to billions of unaccounted dollars over the last six years....under Hillary's watch.

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NY based-Corning’s political action committee gave $33,000 to Hillary and her leadership PAC. Then-Sen Hillary in return showered Corning with earmarks, mandates, and regulations that forced or paid businesses to use Corning products, such as specialty tailpipe filters and catalysts. The New York Times covered this dynamic in a 2006 article headlined “Company Finds Clinton Useful, and Vice Versa.”

The Times reporters wrote: “In April 2003, a month after Corning's political action committee gave $10,000 to her re-election campaign, Mrs. Clinton announced legislation that would provide hundreds of millions in federal aid to reduce diesel pollution, using, among other things, technology pioneered by Corning.” Most conspicuously, Corning executives switched from backing her Republican opponent Rick Lazio in October 2000 to flooding her campaign with donations. A few weeks later, her husband’s administration issued an emissions rule that a local reporter called “a big Christmas present [dropped] in the lap of Corning Inc.”

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<><> In 2006, Barr Laboratories CEO made his first contribution to Hillary's reelection....and within a month, Hillary announced she would block GWB's Food and Drug Administration nominee until the agency made Barr’s “Plan B” morning-after contraceptive available over the counter. In those same days, she introduced legislation to subsidize Plan B.

<><> In 2008, Barr Executive Vice President Frederick J. Killion donated $1,000 to her campaign one day after Clinton introduced another bill to prop up Plan B.

<><> The Washington Post reported in 2014 that Clinton has "functioned as a powerful ally for Boeing’s business interests at home and abroad," while Boeing "invested resources in causes beneficial to Clinton’s public and political image."

<><> The Wall Street Journal also found a suspicious pattern of corporate giving. General Electric, Exxon Mobil, Microsoft and Boeing were among 60 companies that lobbied the State Department during her tenure and donated a combined $26 million to the family foundation, the paper reports.

<><> It found several cases where her lobbying of foreign governments on behalf of specific American firms came just before or after those firms made hefty donations to the Clinton Foundation or another nonprofit she created, Vital Voices.

<><> Walmart gave to both groups, and to a separate fund Clinton established at the State Department. (Hillary served on the Arkansas-based company's board while her husband was Ark governor).

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WATCH THIS The Clinton MO is to do a disappearing act when scandals loom---after it dies down, they then surface---as if nothintg happened.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Where is all the money that was supposed to be directed to Haiti ?

[TADSLOS]

Hildebeast is lining up all of her flying monkeys for final inspection before launch.

[Liz]

Protesters Gathered at Clinton Foundation to Complain of 'Missing State Dept US foreign aid Money' for Haiti Recovery

Protesters gathered outside the Clinton Foundation in Harlem to complain about "missing money" from the US State Dept's recovery effort for the 2010 Haitian earthquake:

"New Yorkers with roots in Haiti protested, saying the picture [of the Haiti recovery] isn't so rosy," said the NY1-TV anchor. "People raised their voices to call attention to the missing money.

They protested outside the offices of the Clinton Foundation, which helped lead the reconstruction fund."

The protesters claimed that the US State Dept's $10 billion meant to help rebuild Haiti did little to help the country after the devastating 2010 quake. And that much of the money went to non-Haitian companies. Said one proteser, “The Haitian people are still living in very difficult conditions, still living under tents, while Bill Clinton and his cronies--they waste this money." As secretary of state under the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton devoted much of her time in 2010 to the Haiti recovery.

1/15 By Daniel Halper (author of Clinton, Inc.: The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political Machine).

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POINTS TO PONDER:

<><> The State Dept recently issued a "special management alert"-----that it had "no idea" what happened to $6 billion used to pay its contractors.....it warned “significant financial risk and a lack of internal control at State has led to billions of unaccounted dollars over the last six years....under Hillary's watch.

<><> Bill Clinton got his hands on hundreds of million of dollars while Hillary ontrolled the State Dept checkbook..... monies that were meant for Haiti (the place where the Clintons spent their honeymoon).

<><> Clinton Foundation donor: Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund--
non-profit w/ GHWB and Bill Clinton as principles.

[Liz]

News organs report the tax-exempt Clinton foundation(s) took billions in donation from foreign governments.....foreign governments that a putative president Hillary would make policy for, and for which she would wield the presidential pen.

The problem for the Buckraking Clintons isnt the morally reprehensible pocketing of foreign mega-bucks---it's what exactly they are doing with the foreign monies once its in their Foundation's tax-exempt coffers.

A CLUE---Court documents in Clinton pal Jeffrey Epstein's underage sex investigation show that Epstein had 21 private e-mail addresses and phone numbers listed for Clinton and Clinton factotum, Doug Band.

Epstein kept Bill Clinton on speed dial as reports surfaced about Clinton attending sex parties at Epstein's "Orgy Island." Lawyers perusing documents stumbled upon e-mail addresses and 21 phone numbers for the fun-loving ex-president and his personal aide, Doug Band, stashed away in Jeffrey Epstein’s electronic directory, according to court documents.

QUESTION: Why does Clinton need 21 phone numbers? Does every phone number have an address and/or PO box number? Because L/E knows multiple phone no's is an indication of possible money-laundering and tax evasion.

CASE IN POINT One two-year federal investigation revealed an elaborate web to carry out multiple frauds. The frauds were carried out using non-existent people using fake identities, fraudulent SS nos, and phony tax ID numbers.

A sophisticated system of telephone voice-mail accounts and post office boxes were created to avoid detection. The charges involved racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud, making false statements, and bank fraud.

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HSBC Leak Exposes Shady Clinton Associates
Washington Free Beacon ^ | February 9, 2015 | Andrew Stiles / FR Posted by lbryce

A massive leak of documents from HSBC’s Swiss banking arm has revealed an array of sketchy dealings with wealthy individuals, including dictators and arms traffickers, through which the bank helped unsavory characters dodge taxes and avoid government scrutiny.

Among the unsavory characters exposed in the leak are a number of prominent donors to the Clinton Foundation. For example, the leaked documents detailed a five million Swiss franc cash transaction to British business mogul Richard Caring:

HSBC staff explained handing Caring the huge sum of cash by quoting a statement by him that he planned to deposit the cash with another Swiss bank, and did not want either bank to be aware of the other. They wrote: “RC goes to great lengths to maintain discretion.” …

The files show Caring, a major donor to British politics, transferring $1 million to the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit set up by the former U.S. President Bill Clinton with the stated mission to “strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.” (Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...

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One of the most common M/L T/E scams is one foundation writing a check to another foundation----the check receiver takes a cut then deposits the rest offshore for the donor's use later---all tax-free.

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We learn a lot from Madoff. When he went to jail, investigators found Ponzi King Bernie Madoff had stashed billions offshore---into a labyrinth of financial entities. Some $8.9 billion was funneled to Madoff through a dozen so-called feeder funds based in Europe, the Caribbean and Central America......a labyrinth of hedge funds, management companies and service providers that, to unsuspecting outsiders, seemed to compose a formidable system of checks and balances.

Although he was jailed for running a Ponzi, Madoff's main purpose was helping billionaire foundations launder money and evade taxes

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CLINTON CONNECTION TO SECRET SWISS BANK ACCOUNTS The Clinton foundations also accepted a $25,000 donation....... and Epstein wire-transferred Clinton's foundation $3.5 MILLION from a Swiss bank account.

INCONVENIENT FACTOID FOR HILLARY Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein flew on Epstein’s private jet in 2002 to meet with the Sultan of Brunei.....one of the richest men in the world.

Hollywood hotshots recently protested the Sultan's ownership of the posh Beverly Hills Hotel and his embrace of Sharia law. The Sultan has announced he plans to execute homosexuals.

The National Enquirer reported flight logs reveal Epstein — before he was arrested and jailed for soliciting teenage masseuses — picked up Clinton at a Japanese naval airport. Also onboard “the orgy jet” — were two alleged ‘madames’ for Epstein’s kiddie sex ring.

The mega-rich Sultan later donated between $1-5 million to the Clinton Presidential Library in Arkansas.

The Clinton foundations also accepted a $25,000 donation....... and Epstein wire-transferred Clinton's foundation $23.5 MILLION from a Swiss bank account.

[Rummyfan]

Two billion dollars... These two are the greatest grifters in history. And it appears their greed, for money and power and adulation, is limitless.

[relentlessly]

Off topic, but does anyone know why Hillary is constantly sitting during speaking events - I’m thinking that she has a real health issue that should be disclosed.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Off topic, but does anyone know why Hillary is constantly sitting during speaking events - I’m thinking that she has a real health issue that should be disclosed.

I don’t know, she seems to be standing up when she gives one of those 30 minute $250,000 speeches at University graduation ceremonies and such.

[reed13k]

I’ll never understand how someone put in as a CEO can’t push something through - unless it’s the board that is preventing it. If consensus was reached as stated - publicize the agreement, give fair warning, and fire anyone that subverts it.

If it’s the board that has issues then bring it out for public discussion in the board meeting and hash it there until resolved.

[PoloSec]

Not much I can say; I initially read the headline wrong, I read it as:

a $2 billion honey pot of money extracted from venereal infection-seekers!

It just made sense to read it that way...

[Will88]

This foundation, presidential libraries, business activities and the activities of former presidents in general are matters that need close scrutiny and investigations.