The Clintons and Obamas, not Trump, cash in on presidency

Lowell Sun ^ | 12/25/2018 | Peter Lucas

[simpson96]

President Donald Trump wants everyone to have a Merry Christmas.

Except for the White House Press Corps, that is. Or for most of its members, anyway, the ones who in his eyes -- and the eyes of many others -- will not give him a fair shake no matter what he does.

They are not worthy of a merry anything.

That is why Trump canceled the Christmas party, a cancellation that came after the media downplayed or ignored the president's attendance at the wreath ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetery last week.

Had he not gone it would have been a scandal. He went and the story was buried.

Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania, thanked volunteers for laying Christmas wreathes at veterans' cemeteries across the country.

It is a program conducted annually by Wreaths Across America, a non-profit volunteer organization that shipped 1.7 million wreaths to some 1,600 locations across the country.

An interesting aside to Trump's visit was the news that Trump, who is a staunch pro-veteran, pro-military president, donates his $400,000 yearly salary to the Department of the Interior where it is used for the construction and repair of military cemeteries.

That story did not make the news either, along with the other non-story last week about how Trump and First Lady Melania have cut the White House staff and payroll significantly from the Obama years.

In its annual report to Congress, the White House Personnel Office said that the annual White House budget was cut from $60.9 million under former President Barack Obama to $25.1 million under Trump.

Not only are there 140 fewer people working at the White House under Trump, the staff of the first lady was reduced from 44 staffers under former first Lady Michelle Obama to five now working for First Lady Melania Trump.

While Trump's critics have painted him as a crass New York billionaire businessman and real estate tycoon out to make a buck out of the presidency, the opposite appears to be the truth.

The job may be costing him money -- the millions he would have been generating running his business empire had he not become president.

Politicians running for president frequently talk about their modest backgrounds. Not Trump. There is nothing modest about Trump, including how rich he is. He bragged about his wealth during the campaign. He financed his own campaign.

So, it will be interesting to see what kind of a former president he will be when he is out of office. Will he be a Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford and simply retire, return home, do good works and drop out of sight?

Or will he imitate Ronald Reagan or one of the Bushes by quietly returning home to the ranch or the farm after making a couple of paid speeches.

The third alternative is to follow in the path of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both once men of modest means, who have capitalized on their years as president to become very rich.

As a matter of fact, it was Bill and Hillary Clinton who set the standard for the selling of the presidency that Barack and Michelle Obama are currently following. And the Obamas are so good at making money that they are becoming richer than the Clintons, if that is possible.

Like the Clintons, the Obamas are grabbing with both hands.

The Clinton's reaped a fortune when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state during Obama's first term. She and Bill Clinton launched the Clinton Foundation. Countries seeking access poured billions into the allegedly non-profit foundation in what many called a pay for play operation.

Speaking fees for both soared.

But the Obamas are outdoing the Clintons, and they are doing it without either of them holding public office, the way Hillary Clinton did.

In addition to a joint $65 million book advance and a $50 million deal with Netflix that she shares with Barack, Michelle Obama is also raking in millions selling her memoir "Becoming" along with merchandise connected to the book in appearances across the country.

She is also paid $225,000 to speak at group events.

Barack, not to be outdone, gets a whopping $400,000 for a speech. He was paid $1.2 million in 2017 for three talks to the Wall Street firms he once criticized.

Forbes estimated that the Obamas are now worth more than $135 million.

And Obama gets an annual pension of $207,800.

Every day is Christmas when you leave the White House the way the Clintons and the Obamas did. Trump should be so lucky.

[Liz]

Just want to make clear how the Obama scam worked:

PHASE ONE <><> With 100 million dollar stars in her eyes, then-First Lady Michelle makes a big deal about teaching Muslim Girls.

PHASE TWO--Later she travels to Morocco with the promise of $100 million tax dollars "to teach Muslim girls”----
to be held by the Obama Foundation ---to be "doled out" when needed. ROTFLOL.

Look at that smile----Obama gave her $100 million tax dollars "to teach Muslim girls."
The $100 mill "for Morocco" is to be held by the Chicago-based tax-exempt Obama Foundation----
The altruistic foundation will dole it out "when needed" (cue laugh machine here).

[Vaduz]

And they put Mafia people in jail system broke.And then we have the deep state critters who are free.

[poconopundit]

Thanks for the great backgrounder on this, Liz. Seems like the Daily Caller folks know how to do investigative journalism.

It’s interesting to see how all the pieces fit together. The complexity of these deals is daunting for the public to understand.

But this is where the corrupt and Fake News plays a key role in pretending these criminal activities don’t exist. And key to making the press compliant is the IRS audits, spying, and disciplining that went on behind the scenes.

Then the Clintons have their Arkanacide operations as a backstop. Remember a few months ago when that investigator who was delving into Debbie Washerwoman Schultz suddenly had an unfortunate accident and died?

[Liz]

.....the many mega-million dollar deals' complexity is daunting for the public to understand.........

Good point......we have to untangle the criminal web so that it is more easily understood.

======================================

....the corrupt and Fake News plays a key role in pretending criminal activities don’t exist....
key to making the press compliant is IRS audits, spying, and disciplining that went on behind the scenes.

Nice take.

[Pagey]

Bttt!

[Liz]

They are still pursuing Obama-era policies at the State Dept, deliberately sabotaging President Trump on Iran policy, relations with Israel, the Paris Accords and other issues........several prominent Obama officials who have knowledge of the mega-billions Iran deal are still at the State Dept.
<><> Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, in charge of Iran and the Persian Gulf region on the policy planning staff,
<><> a former John Kerry apprentice, Michael Ratney, occupies the Israeli-Palestinian portfolio,
<><> trusted Obama aide, Yael Lempert, served under Tillerson on the same platform.

REFERENCE--- Obama's $1.3B giveaway to Iran was paid in cash Jan 22 and Feb 5 from a little-known fund administered by the US Treasury.The so-called Judgment Fund is made up of tax dollars Congress has permanently approved in the event it's needed....

SOURCE: fiscaltreasury.gov. -----The Judgment Fund was established to pay court judgments and Justice Department compromise settlements of actual or imminent lawsuits against the government. It is administered by the Judgment Fund Section, which is a part of the United States Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The Judgment Fund Internet Claims System (JFICS) is the application used to process all Judgment Fund claims.

The Judgment Fund is a permanent, indefinite appropriation available to pay judicially and administratively ordered monetary awards against the United States. The Judgment Fund is also available to pay amounts owed under compromise agreements negotiated by the U.S. Department of Justice in settlement of claims arising under actual or imminent litigation, if a judgment on the merits would be payable from the Judgment Fund. The statutory authority for the Judgment Fund is 31 U.S.C. 1304.

If funds for paying an award are otherwise provided for in the appropriations of the defendant agency, the Judgment Fund may not pay an award. A federal agency may request that payment of an award be made on its behalf from the Judgment Fund only in those instances where funds are not legally available to pay the award from the agency's own appropriations.

Amounts paid vary significantly from year-to-year. Federal agencies are not required to reimburse the Judgment Fund except when cases are filed under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) or the No FEAR Act (Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act).

We can be contacted at judgment.fund@fiscal.treasury.gov or 202-874-6664.

===============================================

UT-OH----J.Ansari Zarif, the Iranian deputy for parliamentary and Iranian affairs within Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said he would expose "everyone who allegedly accepted bribes" to facilitate Obama's nuke deal with Iran. "........ will reveal which western politicians received bribes.

Then-Pres Obama is briefed by Iranian Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, Director for Iran policies, before taping her message to the Iranian people in the Blue Room of the White House, March 18, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

[Liz]

You might think Hillary would be satisfied pocketing $300,000 for an hour of her time giving a speech.
Better think again. Here's Hillary's demands over and above the $300,000.

=============================================

CIRCA 2014--WASH/PO By Rosalind S. Helderman and Philip Rucker

Plans for UCLA visit give rare glimpse into Hillary Clinton’s paid speaking career. She was paid $300,000 to speak to UCLA students and faculty in March 201. When officials at the University of California at Los Angeles began negotiating a $300,000 speech appearance by Hillary Rodham Clinton, the school had one request:

Could we get a reduced rate for public universities? The answer from Clinton’s representatives: $300,000 is the “special university rate.”

That e-mail exchange and other internal communications, obtained this week by The Washington Post under a Freedom of Information Act request, provide a rare glimpse into the complex and meticulous backstage efforts to manage the likely 2016 presidential candidate’s lucrative speaking career.

At UCLA, efforts to book Clinton and then prepare for her visit were all-consuming, beginning almost immediately after she left her job as secretary of state on Feb. 1, 2013, until she delivered her Luskin Lecture for Thought Leadership speech on March 5, 2014.

The documents show that Clinton’s representatives at the Harry Walker Agency exerted considerable control over her appearance and managed even the smallest details — from requesting lemon wedges and water on stage to a computer, scanner, and a spread of hummus and crudité in the green room backstage.

PIC---Gene Block, UCLA’s chief executive and chancellor, presents a medal to Hillary Rodham Clinton after her speech at the school March 5. (Nick Ut/AP)

Top university officials discussed at length the style and color of the executive armchairs Clinton and moderator Lynn Vavreck would sit in as they carried on a question-and-answer session, as well as the kind of pillows to be situated on each chair. Clinton’s representatives requested that the chairs be outfitted with two long, rectangular pillows — and that two cushions be kept backstage in case the chair was too deep and she needed additional back support.

After a lengthy call with a Clinton representative, UCLA administrator Patricia Lippert reported to campus colleagues, “She uses a lavalier [microphone] and will both speak from the audience and walk around stage, TED talk style. We need a teleprompter and 2-3 downstage scrolling monitors [for] her to read from.”

During a walk-through of Royce Hall five days before the lecture, the e-mails show, Clinton’s team rejected the podium planned for her use during her 20- to 30- minute speech, setting off a scramble on campus to find a suitable podium and rent a new university seal to match.

In the nearly two years since stepping down as secretary of state, Clinton has made dozens of paid appearances across the country at industry conventions and Wall Street banks as well as at universities. Her UCLA fee, like those at other universities, went to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the family’s nonprofit group.

But critics have argued that the carefully staged events and high speaking fees could complicate Clinton’s ability to run a populist campaign built around the economic struggles of the middle class.

Versions of Clinton’s standard speaking contracts have surfaced publicly this year — including her luxury travel requirements — but the contracts do not contain the extensive detail seen in the UCLA communications.

It is unclear how personally involved Clinton was in the UCLA negotiations and whether the requests from her agency were being directed by her or merely from underlings anticipating her preferences. A Clinton spokesman declined to comment on the speaking arrangements.

It is commonplace for celebrity speakers to request special accommodations — and Clinton was no exception. Her representatives asked for a case of still water, room temperature, to be deposited stage right. They also asked that “a carafe of warm/hot water, coffee cup and saucer, pitcher of room temperature water, water glass, and lemon wedges” be situated both on a table on stage as well as in another room where Clinton would stand for photos with VIPs.

For the green room, Clinton’s representatives requested: “Coffee, tea, room temp sparkling and still water, diet ginger ale, crudité, hummus and sliced fruit.” They also asked for a computer, mouse and printer, as well as a scanner, which the university had to purchase for the occasion.

When university officials decided to award Clinton the UCLA Medal, Clinton’s team asked that it be presented to her in a box rather than draped around her neck. That request was sent to the university’s chancellor, Gene Block.

“Chancellor Block has agreed to accommodate Hillary Clinton’s request to have the medal presented in a box,” Assistant Provost Margaret Leal-Sotelo wrote in one e-mail.

Lippert replied: “I can either have the jewelers box open or closed, in case the Chancellor doesn’t want to risk opening it.” By contract, Clinton’s approval was needed for any promotional materials. Clinton gave permission for the university to record the event, but “for archival purposes only.”

For public distribution, Clinton’s speaking agency approved only a two-minute highlight video to upload to YouTube. “Please make sure it is available only for one (1) year from the date of posting,” a Harry Walker Agency official added.

Clinton posed for individual photos with 100 VIPS, or 50 couples — “We get a total of 50 clicks,” one university official explained — as well as two group photos. Lippert wrote to colleagues that Clinton’s representatives wanted the group shots “prestaged,” with participants assembled and ready to take the photographs before Clinton arrived “so the secretary isn’t waiting for these folks to get their act together.” Reiterating the request, Lippert added, “She doesn’t like to stand around waiting for people.”

Like many major universities, UCLA regularly pays high-profile speakers to visit campus. Many of the visits are funded through a private endowment and not with tuition or public dollars. Clinton’s appearance was privately funded in part by a lecture series endowed by Meyer Luskin, an investor and president of Scope Industries, a food waste recycling company.

===========================

foxnews.com

Hillary requires ‘presidential suite,’ stenographer for speaking engagements,
report says Hillary has a taste for luxury to match any world leader.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal obtained Clinton’s contract and related documents related to a scheduled October 13 speech at a University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Foundation fundraiser. The documents show that Clinton received $225,000 to speak at the fundraiser, a discount from her initial $300,000 asking price.

But the fee was only the first of Clinton’s many stipulations.

The former Secretary of State insists on staying in the ‘presidential suite’ of a luxury hotel of her staff’s choice, with up to five other rooms reserved for her travel aides and advance staff. Clinton also reportedly requires that the Foundation provide a private plane. However, the jet can not be any private plane; only a $39 million, 16-passenger Gulfstream G450 “or larger” will do the job.

“It is agreed that Speaker will be the only person on the stage during her remarks,” reads the contract for the event, which also requires that Clinton have final approval of all moderators or introducers.

Also, according to her standard speaking contract, Clinton has to stay at the event no longer than 90 minutes and will pose for no more than 50 photos with no more than 100 people. There is no press coverage of video or audio taping of her speech allowed, with the only record allowed being made by a stenographer whose transcript is given to Clinton. The paper reports, however, that the stenographer’s $1,250 bill will be paid by the UNLV Foundation.

LINK Click for more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
December 20, 2015 / Update January 31, 2015

[Liz]

So what are the Obamas’ demands from speech venues?

OBAMA THREATENS TO CANCEL IF SPEECH DETAILS ARE RELEASED
DAILY CALLER 9/05/2018 | INVESTIGATIVE GROUP
Andrew Kerr | Investigative Reporter

Representatives for Barack Obama have threatened to cancel the former president’s upcoming paid speech at a Denmark university if details of his speaking contract are released to the public.

Obama will participate in a moderated question and answer session on Sept. 28 at the University of Southern Denmark before local business leaders, university students and local dignitaries, according to Business Kolding, the event’s organizer.

But the event has already sparked criticism from citizens of Denmark’s Kolding Municipality, which is providing 750,000 kroner, or $117,000, in taxpayer funds to support the behind-closed-doors event titled “A Conversation with President Barack Obama.”

Kolding currently faces a deficit of 100 million kroner in its next year’s budget. The town’s mayor, Jørn Pedersen, justified using taxpayer dollars to fund Obama’s invite-only talk, claiming the event is effectively a marketing opportunity for the town, according to Danish news outlet JydskeVestkysten.

“At this event, current and future leaders will have an opportunity to experience President Obama first hand. Everyone can expect to be inspired. And we have every reason to be proud,” Kolding Mayor Jørn Pedersen said.

But Pedersen said he has been kept in the dark by the event’s organizers regarding the total cost of hosting Obama’s talk. (RELATED: Reporters Told To Not Report On Obama Speech)

When pressed by a local news outlet for more information, Business Kolding said the Obama team would cancel the event outright if details surrounding his speaking contract were released to the public.

Despite efforts to keep the media in the dark, JydskeVestkyn estimates Obama will rake in up to two million kroner, or $312,000, for partaking in the event.

The University of Southern Denmark anticipates that Obama’s visit will “boost” the university’s prestige.

“SDU is an international university with a strong vision. We wish to break down barriers and mould the future. We are convinced that President Barack Obama’s visit will give us a tremendous boost,” said Henrik Dam, the university’s vice-chancellor.

“As a regional player, this is a unique opportunity for us to support an exceptional event here in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is an event that in every possible way promotes SDU’s strategic goals of being an international university, enabling every talent and encouraging the exceptional,” added pro-vice-chancellor Bjarne Graabech Sørensen.

Obama’s office did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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