Last week, Hillary Clinton’s travails took a turn for the worse when it was revealed that the FBI had managed to retrieve some of the emails that she had previously said had been “scrubbed” from her private server.
If these newly recovered emails should contain anything more than those of a personal nature, as she has claimed, there may be significant penalties that she will face.
Hillary’s campaign is currently walking through a mine field full of danger. In addition to her being classified as a liar, dishonest and untrustworthy, she has the galloping ghost of Bernie Sanders nipping at her heels. Her plunging poll numbers are taking a hit from not only Sanders, but also from a possible candidate who has yet to enter the race in the person of Vice President Joe Biden.
In all of this, one subject that has not come under intense scrutiny is the Clinton Foundation. To best understand how the foundation has worked since Bill Clinton left the presidency one only has to read a recent comprehensive study in a book authored by Peter Schweizer.
The title of the tome is Clinton Cash, and it purports to tell the story of how and why foreign governments and businesses helped to make Bill and Hillary rich. Schweizer sets his premise on page 2 of his work when he says, “The reality is that most of what happens in American politics is transactional. People look for ways to influence those in power by throwing money in their direction. Politicians are all too happy to vacuum up contributions from supporters and people who want access or something in return. After politicians leave office, they often trade on their relationships and previous positions to enrich themselves and their families.”
In his book, Schweizer correctly notes that it has long been illegal for foreigners to contribute to U.S. political campaigns, a law that the Supreme Court upheld in a 9-0 decision. But there is no law that prohibits foreign individuals or countries from giving lavish contributions to a foundation or for speeches given in their countries by members of that foundation.
As Hillary famously stated, “When we left the White House we were dead broke.” Since that time the Clintons have been able to amass a fortune estimated at $130 million.
Whether by connivance or coincidence, much of that fortune has been accumulated from a mysterious multi-million dollar foundation gift from an obscure Indian politician that coincided with Sen. Hillary Clinton’s reversal on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. On another matter, when Hillary was secretary of state she was involved in allowing the transfer of nearly 50 percent of U.S. domestic uranium output to Russia, which benefitted large donors to the Clinton foundation.
Interestingly enough, the Schweizer book starts off with a first paragraph titled, “The Lincoln Bedroom Goes Global,”probably a reference to the Clinton’s first Washington-based peddling of access to wealthy donors.
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