Dept. money to its nonprofit affiliate / By NYP's Geoff Earle
"Clinton Cash" reveals that the Clinton's received compensation from both the for-profit and nonprofit affiliates of Laureat University. / Photo: AP
Bill Clinton collected hefty speaking fees as the “honorary chairman” of a for-profit university, but suddenly ended his relationship last week after Hillary Rodham Clinton attacked for-profit colleges and the money flow to Bill was threatened.
The new book “Clinton Cash” says government grants to the school’s nonprofit affiliate soared when Hillary became secretary of state.
As Bubba played pitchman for Baltimore-based Laureat University, the State Department steered a $1.9 million grant to the nonprofit, the book claims. “Isn’t it troubling that while Bill Clinton was being paid by a private corporation, the corporation was also benefiting from State Department actions. Isn’t it troubling that this seeming conflict of interest was not disclosed?” writes author Peter Schweizer.
Bill Clinton severed his ties to the university last week — just days after Hillary on the campaign trail in Iowa charged that some for-profit colleges were ripping off students.
She said on April 14 that it was important to look at “some of the for-profit schools, some of the scandals that have arisen in these places where they take all the money and put all these young people and their families into debt.”
Hillary’s populist tone was a shift from her days at Foggy Bottom, where the State Department embraced Laureate with open arms, according to the book.
“Shortly after Bill become honorary chancellor in April 2010, Hillary made Laureate part of her State Department Global Partnership,” the book says. Laureate insisted that Bill Clinton left only because his five-year deal had come to a close.
But the ties between the two were deep. Laureate and its not-for-profit affiliate, the International Youth Foundation, are headed by Doug Becker, and the school donated between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation. The parties never disclosed how much Bill was paid for speeches around the globe promoting the institutions. But Schweizer estimated that Bill made at least $1 million based on his usual fees.
In 2012, IYF received its first grant directly from the State Department — $1.9 million for work on a Middle East initiative.
“This is yet another false allegation in a book that is fast being discredited,” said Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon. “The International Youth Foundation was funded by the Bush administration well before Hillary Clinton became secretary of state. And government records show that in the year after President Clinton joined Laureate, [IYF] grants actually went down, not up.”