by WorldTribune Staff, December 7, 2018

Tens of millions of dollars went directly to the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments or other entities during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.

That those governments and entities stood to benefit from Clinton’s position “seems to pose inherent conflicts of interest” and United States Attorney John Huber is currently investigating for alleged wrongdoing, an in depth report said.The Clinton Foundation has raised more than $2 billion since it was founded in 1997. Bill and Hillary Clinton have been paid more than $150 million for delivering speeches. “Notably, these payments increased dramatically after Hillary Clinton took office as secretary of state in 2009,” The Epoch Times reported on Dec. 5.

A scheduled testimony by Huber before Congress was postponed in response to the funeral of President George H.W. Bush.

“Huber with the Department of Justice and FBI has been having an investigation, at least part of his task was to look at the Clinton Foundation and what may or may not have happened as it relates to improper activity with that charitable foundation,” Rep. Mark Meadows, North Carolina Republican, told The Hill on Nov. 20.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Clinton Foundation and President Barack Obama’s presidential transition team “outlined certain requirements for Hillary Clinton’s confirmation as secretary of state in 2009. The MOU identified a set of protocols that supposedly addressed concerns about possible foreign influence,” the report said.

In the MOU, the foundation committed to increased and timely disclosure of payments, an annual publication of donors, and restrictions on donations from foreign governments.

The MOU “was violated almost immediately, and would be so repeatedly (in spirit and in letter) throughout Clinton’s tenure,” The Epoch Times report noted.

• For example, the report said, “from the beginning of Clinton’s tenure in 2009, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) never reported any of its foreign donors, as acknowledged by CHAI spokeswoman Maura Daley in 2015. Other significant violations include the failure to report donors annually, the failure to disclose foreign government donations, and the failure to submit donations and speech payments for ethics reviews.”
• The report notes that the Clintons also received tens of millions of dollars in the form of Bill Clinton’s speaking fees and consulting arrangements. “Instead of these payments being reviewed by neutral or third-party ethics officials, they were reviewed by the State Department under Hillary Clinton and the process specifically involved longtime Clinton lawyer Cheryl Mills,” the report said.

• Additionally, the report noted, the State Department operated without an inspector general for the entirety of Hillary Clinton’s tenure – an unprecedented duration without a watchdog in place.

The report also raised numerous conflict of interest.

• One primary such concerns involved Huma Abedin’s role at the State Department. A “controversial SGE (special government employee) waiver allowed her to simultaneously work for Clinton, the State Department, the Clinton Foundation, and consulting firm Teneo Strategies,” the report noted. “For example, Teneo – a for-profit firm co-founded by Doug Band – paid Abedin $355,000, while State paid her $135,000 as an SGE. Abedin frequently corresponded with Clinton Foundation and Teneo executive Band and helped grant favors to Clinton Foundation donors and Teneo clients.”

Emails first revealed by Judicial Watch show that Band, a longtime personal assistant to Bill Clinton, frequently emailed Clinton State Department aides requesting favors for Clinton Foundation donors. Abedin would usually respond immediately to indicate the favor request had been received and was under consideration. Favors were granted to foundation donors, leading to widespread criticisms of “pay to play.”

• A leaked 2011 internal memo drafted by Band revealed Teneo had approximately 20 clients – many of whom are also Clinton donors. In his memo, Band described Teneo as an agent for “Bill Clinton, Inc.” that was dedicated to “helping the President secure and engage in for-profit activities – including speeches, books, and advisory service engagements.” Band also helped negotiate “in-kind services for the President and his family – for personal travel, hospitality, vacation, and the like.”
• Another angle being looked at the Clinton Foundation case is how, upon becoming secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, as a 2011 Daily Beast report noted, “wrested control of USAID and influence over billions in foreign assistance.”

USAID funded numerous multimillion-dollar “partnerships” with Clinton benefactors. The grants were made in close proximity to payments to the Clinton Foundation. One example is the timing of USAID grants to a charity run by Bill Clinton’s friend Doug Becker, the Epoch Times report said.

Becker is the founder of Laureate Education Inc. and heads the International Youth Foundation (IYF). In 2008, Laureate became a Clinton Global Initiative partner and pledged $10 million in scholarships. Laureate also is listed as a $1 million to $5 million donor to the Clinton Foundation. In 2009, Bill Clinton began giving speeches at Laureate campuses in Spain, Brazil, and Peru.

In August 2009, then-Secretary Clinton told Mills to invite Becker (“who Bill likes a lot”) to a State Department dinner. Hillary Clinton made Laureate part of her State Department Global Partnership, and her undersecretary praised Laureate for “doing such important work.”

In April 2010, Laureate appointed Bill Clinton as their “honorary chancellor” and paid him $16.46 million over the next five years. Also, in 2010, Laureate and the IYF announced a joint $10 million commitment to the Clinton Foundation.

While Becker’s Laureate paid Bill Clinton more than $16 million between 2010 and 2015, USAID grants to Becker’s IYF increased from $9 million in 2009 to $25.5 million in 2012. USAID granted $55 million from 2010 to 2012 to the IYF.

Bill Clinton abruptly resigned from Laureate in April 2015 – the same month his relationship with Laureate was exposed in the book “Clinton Cash.”

USAID operates under “substantial guidance from the Secretary of State,” according to 64 lawmakers in a July 2016 letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, “which creates an appearance that millions of dollars in taxpayer money was channeled to IYF by Secretary Clinton’s State Department as a kickback for her husband’s generous contract as an honorary Laureate chancellor.”

• The Epoch Times report also details how Clinton donors cashed in on a devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti in 2010; the Clinton Foundation’s ties to the Uranium One scandal; and how the foundation failed to disclose large payments from foreign governments such as Qatar and Algeria.

Read the full report here

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  Clinton Foundation, Clinton State Department, Doug Band, Human Abedin, John Huber, One possible reason Hillary Clinton looked distracted during Bush funeral, pay to play, Teneo, WorldTribune.com