No FBI Investigation Into The Clinton Global Foundation: The Questions Still Linger
It looks like there will be no FBI investigation relating to donations made to the Clinton Foundation. News hounds have not been able to get to the bottom of the controversies surrounding the donations. There is no smoke without fire, as they say, but even the smartest investigative reporters who have been digging around this issue have been coming up with more questions than answers.
The question was asked if it was time for the FBI to step in and clear the Foundation of any rumors. The donations in question were made during the tenure of Hillary Clinton — who is set to run for presidency — as secretary of state.
Most of these large contributions were possible because of changes made to the foundation’s 2008 agreement that capped foreign government donations but not corporate giving.
In March, CBS News uncovered a $2 million donation from Rilin Enterprises, a Chinese company run by billionaire Wang Wenliang, who is a delegate to the Chinese parliament and whose firm helped build the Chinese embassy in Washington.
The Foundation’s annual report show that the Saudi Arabian Government and pro-Saudi advocacy group has given upwards of $15 million. There are also allegations that a donation from a Nigerian developer stalled an investigation into terrorism.
These countries are not known for their generosity of spirit and good nature. These donations do, at the very least, raise an eyebrow, and the call for an FBI Investigation seemed reasonable; however, when questioned about these and similar donations, Hilary Clinton said:
“I am very proud of the work the foundation does and I am very proud of the hundreds of thousands of people who support the work of the foundation,” and
“I think that to people who want to support the foundation, know full well what it is we stand for and what we’re working on,”
This issue is starting to read like an episode from House of Cards, with foreign governments still being able to participate in the Clinton Global Initiative, a subsidiary of the Clinton Foundation, and pay attendance fees of $15,000.
Fox News have reported that the State Department has no evidence that any actions taken by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was secretary of state were influenced by donations to the Clinton Foundation or former President Bill Clinton’s speaking fees.
State Department plans no review of Clinton Foundation donations http://t.co/z5TsC19J8C
— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) May 8, 2015
CBS News also reported that in 2009, the foundation agreed to greater transparency and to limit foreign donations as part of a deal with the Obama administration, but it never stopped taking money from foreign companies or individuals with ties to their governments.
The foundation have stated that they will now disclose donors quarterly, instead of annually. Its next filing will be in July. Maybe then the decision for no FBI investigation will make more sense and these muddy political waters will clear.
[Image Credit/Google Images]
