Donald Trump Accuses Clintons Of ‘Monetizing Political Influence’ Through Foundation
President Donald Trump took to Twitter today to accuse former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of “monetizing political influence” through their foundation. “Clinton Foundation donations drop 42% – which shows that they illegally played the power game,” Trump wrote, “they monetized their political influence through the Foundation.” Ironically, Trump is accusing the Clintons of corruption, but his own foundation is being investigated over alleged misuse of charitable assets.
Donald Trump is not entirely wrong in his assessment, so it seems. According to the New York Post, donations to the Clinton foundation plummeted nearly 58 percent following Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential defeat. Bill and Hillary are indeed being accused of corruption. As Townhall reported, House Republicans plan to hold a hearing over the former secretary of state and former president’s foundation. The House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations, which is chaired by Mark Meadows, will spearhead the effort, which is due to come during the so-called lame duck session before the Democratic party takes back power in the chamber. U.S. Attorney John Huber of Utah, who was appointed earlier this year to investigate the Clinton Foundation, will testify before the committee. In a statement supplied to the press, Meadows said the following.
“Mr. 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, so we’ve set a hearing date for December 5.”
According to the New York Post, the investigations are focused on determining whether donations made to the non-profit influenced policy decisions during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. The Clintons have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and executives at the Clinton Foundation claim that the drop in revenue is due to internal restructuring. Investor’s Business Daily notes that this is not the first time for the Clintons to be accused of wrongdoing, as foreign investors and state actors have allegedly been found to be major donors to the non-profit, and at least one foreign government donation has been found in violation of ethics agreements with the Obama administration, the publication asserts.
The timing of Donald Trump’s message to the Clintons is at the very least curious, since his own foundation, the Trump Foundation, is currently being investigated over alleged misuse of charitable assets. As the New York Times reports, a New York state judge ruled on Friday that a lawsuit by the attorney general of New York against Donald Trump and his foundation could proceed. Donald Trump’s lawyers claim that the court does not have jurisdiction over the president and alleges bias.
