Donald Trump’s magnifying glass has started to put the heat on the Clinton Foundation.
The Republican candidate has called for a special prosecutor to investigate the Clinton family foundation. Trump charges that his opponent, Hillary Clinton, and her husband, the impeached in disgrace President Bill Clinton, have instituted corruption under the guise of charity.
Bill Clinton set up the public charity after he wrapped up his presidency in 2001 with the idea of bringing government, businesses, and social groups together to tackle big problems. It was kind of a new idea at the time. On Monday, Clinton wrote in a post on Medium that the foundation is about “creating opportunities and solving problems faster, better, at a lower cost so that more people are empowered to build better futures for themselves, their families and their communities.”
CNN went tried to explain it this way.
“It’s what philanthropists call an operating foundation, which means it doesn’t give much money to outside groups to fulfill its mission. In 2014, the foundation gave less than 3% of revenue to other non-profits. Instead, the foundation does its own work, with staff and partners around the world.”
However, it has been reported that the foundation uses upwards of 90 percent of its income on administrative expenses. Right.
While that’s simmering in the back of your mind consider this:
The AP reported that while Hillary was Secretary of State, over half of Clinton’s meetings were with people not involved with government at all. In fact, they were high dollar donors to her family’s foundation. The likes of Estee Lauder executives, and a founder of a bank who wanted help because he was being pressured to resign–by a foreign government.
Why would a foreign bank president want an audience with an American Secretary of State if he didn’t think she would, could help him?
Donald Trump is credited as saying,
“No issue better illustrates how corrupt my opponent is than her pay-for-play scandals as secretary of state.”
Apparently, the disgust at the situation isn’t within the “vast right-wing conspiracy” groups. Her own party isn’t thrilled either.
In a June interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper during primary season, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s only remaining democratic challenger, said that foundation donors like Saudi Arabia created the appearance of a conflict of interest. “Do I have a problem when a sitting Secretary of state … collects millions of dollars from foreign governments … dictatorships,” Sanders said. “Do I have a problem with that? Yeah, I do.”
The Clinton pay-to-play angle is well known. Whether or not there will be a criminal investigation as Donald Trump is calling for is another question entirely.
The Clintons are the worst type of criminals–they are disbarred, crooked lawyers. They know how to legally subvert the system to make their fortune—all while making you think they are helping you.
*Editor’s Note: This post was edited on September 19, 2016, for accuracy.
