"This Bubba, he a like a son to me, quick learner, a real grease pig that never get caught".
Posted on 01/30/2008 4:59:05 AM PST by SJackson
The Clintons' Multi-Million Dollar Dubai Conflict-of-Interest
Bill's $20 million payoff from the UAE won't end the appearance of corruption.
In the most recent Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama threw off their gloves and attacked each other for their suspicious and scandalous ties. And you know what? They were both right!
Here’s a story this week that makes my point with respect to Hillary:
According to the Wall Street Journal: “Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million -- and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai -- by ending his high-profile business relationship with the investment firm of billionaire friend Ron Burkle. Mr. Clinton is negotiating to end his relationship with Mr. Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. as part of a broader effort to protect the presidential campaign of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, from potential conflicts of interest.”
It’s a little late to worry about conflicts of interest, don’t you think?
Hillary has served in the Senate during Bill Clinton’s tenure with Yucaipa, which began in 2002, all the while in a position to vote on issues that could impact Burkle’s (and, through Bill, Hillary’s) empire. Bill Clinton voiced no concern about a potential conflict of interest when he was handed a large stake in Yucaipa with no risk and very little work required. Now he can just collect the checks.
Moreover, this $20 million payoff does nothing to eliminate the conflict of interest. In fact, it makes it worse. Presumably, since Hillary Clinton shares a bank account with former President Clinton, they can use the money to fund her candidacy for president, if she so chooses. Overall, Burkle has contributed large amounts of cash to the Clintons’ campaigns, their legal defense fund, and to the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. The question is, and has always been, what will Ron Burkle get in return for his generosity to the Clintons? Especially if Hillary wins the presidency.
Now Obama, for his part, was slammed for ties to indicted political fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, or as Hillary called him, “a slumlord.” This is an apt description. Rezko owned dozens of low-income housing structures beset by code violations and 11 of them were in Obama's state senate district. Some of these buildings had no heat in the dead of winter. Rezko, who received millions in government grants to rehab the buildings, said he had no money to repair them. He did, however, have enough money to fund Obama’s campaigns. (You will also recall that Obama was involved in a suspicious land deal with Rezko. I’ve written about that extensively.) In fact, Obama sought to return (to charity) more Rezko money when it was revealed by the Chicago Sun-Times that Obama was referenced in court documents as benefiting from illegal Rezko contributions.
(By the way, a photo surfaced recently that suggests Hillary may have her own Rezko scandal to worry about. Check it out here.)
So the Clintons reap millions as a result of partnering with a foreign government and Barack is in deep with an indicted businessman. These are troubling times for those of us concerned about pubic corruption.
(By the way, a photo surfaced recently that suggests Hillary may have her own Rezko scandal to worry about. Check it out here.)
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1.htm
Looking forwar to the major media covering this story...not.
bump
APPEARANCE of corruption???
NWO $$$..leftist style.
Micheal Moore is a libtard. Where is his movie about the Clintoons ties to oil money?
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is a leading opponent of the UAE owned DP World's takeover of US port management at 21 different locations.
This week, she stated that she wasn't aware that her husband had advised Dubai leaders on how to handle the growing dispute.Hillary Clinton 'unaware' of Bill's Dubai ties - Financial Times - MSNBC.com
But former President Bill Clinton's ties to Dubai and the United Arab Emirates should not have come as a surprise to his US senator wife.
Mrs Clinton's own senatorial financial disclosure forms reveal that her husband earned $450,000 giving speeches in Dubai in 2002.
Officials from the UAE also donated between $500,000 and $1m to fund Mr Clinton's presidential library in Arkansas!
According to the Financial Times article, this was part of an effort by the emirates, said a person close to UAE officials, to forge a close relationship with a former US president who is influential and highly regarded in the region.
Is that another way of saying `let's bribe us an ex-President and hire hime as a lobbyist?'. I think so. Mr. Bill joins an impressive list of UAE paid lobbyists hammering congress on their behalf,including ex Senate majority Leader Tom Daschele, Clinton's ex-Secretary of State Madeline Albright and ex Republican Senate Minority Leader and presidential candidate Bob Dole.
None of these people work cheap, which leads me to question why the UAE is willing to spread this kind of money around on this deal to get it through.
Mrs Clinton is widely regarded as the leading Democratic candidate for the 2008 presidential elections, and she has used her opposition to the ports deal to attack the Bush administration on national security, an issue that has been a weak point for Democrats.
Some would regard this as classic Clinton-having it both ways.
Needless to say, Mrs. Clinton's selective amnesia may cause some of her proponents to think twice about whether they really want Mrs. Clinton and her husband back in the White House.
http://joshuapundit.blogspot.com/2006/03/hillary-clinton-unaware-of-bills-dubai.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.