Both Bill and Hillary Clinton are masters of acquiring financial help for themselves while providing favors for their donors. When Bill was seeking reelection in 1996, he received piles of cash from individuals representing Communist China. The names Johnny Chung and Charlie Trie, Clinton donors, will stir some memories. They funneled millions in Chinese cash to the Clinton campaign. Both donors and recipient broke some laws.
Then there was Bernard Schwartz, the chief executive of Loral Space & Communications. He donated $1.3 million to help get Clinton reelected. In return, the Clinton administration gave a green light to Loral to aid the Beijing tyrants in their rocket program. That favor overruled policy set by the State Department, the Commerce Department, and the Pentagon, each worried about China’s missile program. Later, President Clinton even arranged for a birthday party for Schwartz at the White House. But obvious giving and receiving of significant bribes got swept under the rug.
When the Clintons left the White House in 2001, they stripped the place clean of numerous household items including the dishes used at official banquets and gatherings. They claimed to be “poor” without acknowledging that their meager financial condition had resulted from legal bills defending Bill from impeachment changes. But they’re not poor anymore. They created the Clinton Foundation and began accepting funds for speeches and other favors from individuals all over the globe. Hillary won election as a New York senator, suffered defeat in her 2008 run for the White House, got appointed secretary of state, and is aiming for the presidency.
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Each of the Clintons has earned millions for speeches given to individuals and organizations linked to foreign governments. For instance, “donations” totaling $2.35 million arrived at the Clinton Foundation from a firm known as Uranium One. In the blink of an eye, Russia’s atomic energy agency Rosatom ended up as one of the world’s largest uranium producers, and Vladimir Putin advanced significantly toward his goal of dominating the acquisition and eventual use of that strategically important element. Shortly after several Russian movers and shakers acquired controlling interest in Uranium One, Bill was paid $500,000 for a speech he delivered in Moscow. And then it turns out that Secretary of State Hillary played a role in transferring 50 percent of our nation’s uranium output to Russia’s government.
With the Hillary-led State Department authorizing numerous deals, several countries in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, et al.) received arms shipments from the United States. These dictatorships (some even having ties to terrorist organizations) donated somewhere between $50 and $150 million to the Clinton Foundation. The FBI, already investigating Hillary’s unsecured e-mail transmissions, has reportedly opened up a second investigation looking into the possibility that she accepted funds and delivered political favors.
In his 2015 book Clinton Cash, Peter Schweizer wonders whether foreign governments obtained favors from the Clintons with their donations to the Clinton Foundation. The seemingly tireless Judicial Watch organization noted among other damning facts that one of Hillary’s speeches to the State Department included her thanks to many who were making “exceptional commitments” to “her husband’s foundation.”
Harvard professor Stephen Walt, financial guru Charles Ortel, and reporters from Investor’s Business Daily have raised more questions about the Clintons and their foundation. But the big question needing an answer is: “Will the mass media inform enough of the American voters about all of this and more before the November election?” Time will tell.
John F. McManus is president emeritus of The John Birch Society. This column appeared originally at the insideJBS blog and is reprinted here with permission.
