The Clinton Foundation has been the subject of long-standing allegations of questionable donations and reporting. It is also viewed by many critics as a massive shadow campaign structure that employed aides and funded Clinton trips. However, the most serious allegation was a type of pay-to-play scheme where foreign and domestic donors gave money in the hopes of currying favor or gaining access to the State Department. Now, Judicial Watch has released dozens of emails that were deleted improperly by the Clinton staff, but contain non-personal communications. Among the recovered emails are communications showing interventions for donors at the State Department, including one on behalf of a convicted money launderer. The relative lack of coverage on both the proof of the improper deletion of such emails and the pay-for-play concerns is astonishing — and magnify concerns that mainstream media has been giving such controversies minimal coverage.
Clinton turned over 30,000 emails and repeatedly insisted that some 30,000 deleted emails were entirely and clearly personal in nature. That has been proven to be untrue. More importantly, the emails contain clear interventions for donors. Clinton just recently denied any such connection between the Foundation and State Department business. However, in one email exchange, Doug Band, an executive at the Clinton Foundation, intervened for Gilbert Chagoury — a convicted money launderer — with the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon. Band emphasizes that Chagoury is a “key guy there [Lebanon] and to us” and asks Clinton aide Huma Abedin call Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman on behalf of Chagoury. Chagoury was a major donor to both the Foundation and is a close friend of former President Bill Clinton. He also pledged $1 billion to the Clinton Global Initiative. He was convicted in 2000 in Switzerland for money laundering, but cut a deal to avoid jail time.
The Clinton campaign does not address the fact that this was one of many emails improperly deleted and only recovered through court orders. However, the campaign did insist that “Neither of these emails involve the Secretary or relate to the Foundation’s work. They are communications between her aides and the President’s personal aide, and indeed the recommendation was for one of the Secretary’s former staffers who was not employed by the Foundation.”
Another email showed the revolving door between the foundation and State with an effort by aides to find a position for a foundation associate. Clinton Foundation official Doug Band told Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin that it is “important to take care of (redacted).” Abedin then assured Band that “Personnel has been sending him options.”
Also deleted was an email from Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, on the effort of the National Security Agency and State Department officials to develop a modified blackberry for Clinton that might be used when she worked in a restricted State Department office that did not allow private phones. It was clearly a government-related email and one that bore directly on what the FBI Director later found to be careless handling of classified communications by Clinton and her aides.
It is hard to see how the Clinton aides could have read these emails and deleted them as purely personal matters. One would think that such clearly improper deletions would generate more media scrutiny of tens of thousands of emails unilaterally deleted by the Clinton staff.
I see that none of the folks here note the FACT that the Clinton Foundation is NOT required by ANY law to disclose the names or sources of donors. In FACT, Clinton decided to release the names to avoid the very charges that so many are making. In fact, there would be NO “scandal” if they simply followed the law and kept the sources of the fund SECRET as they are allowed to do! Give me a break!
It is no secret that people who work for political groups are usually taken care of in finding jobs. That is how ALL political parties, companies, foundations etc work. There is nothing illegal or unseemly about it, unless you are Bristol Palin getting a six figure salary to give talks about abstinence! Then wind up pregnant and unmarried AGAIN! So all of this is simply a matter of finding hairs to split and nothing but innuendo. There are FAR more truly corrupt people than the made up things about Clinton. This again is much ado about nothing, and until you can come up with some FACTS to support charges, you are pissing in the wind. Of course, there are no charges or even any that Turley can come up with. I am certain he can use his legal mind to gin up some charge if he really tries.
Even though we were entertained by the “Russia did it” meme, it may be taking a more serious turn. I was curious to see if anything would come of it, and now our puppet in Ukraine was caught trying to make a hit in Crimea? Seems awfully timely to me. As we know, there is nothing this group won’t do to stay in power. K.C. may be right in the end.
Media will never cover important stuff as that will kill her campaign
@vinegart
It just occurred to me that I have met as many interesting people through Trump as I have through Bernie. Milo, Diamond and Silk, the lt governor of Florida, etc. I feel sorry for people who never explore other perspectives.
But then I am a Progressive, not a Liberal snowflake. =)
Are you familiar with Lee Camp? He’s one of my fav political comedians along with Jimmy Dore. Just watched this show
Autumn, Milo is brilliant. I love his cancer/feminism poll.
Renegade-
You are spot on. Darren probably hasn’t read up much on the Teapot Dome scandal. A crooked Attorney General, a Big Oil Executive going to the federal pokey, Senator Fall from New Mexico destroyed and disgraced (the original “fall guy”), plus lots more. Reagan’s administration had plenty of “lowlights” as well.
Pay to play is an infectious disease that does not discriminate based on party affiliation. Of course, some politicians are better at it than others. But again, the ability to develop that type of “skill” is not the exclusive province of one party or the other.
@vinegart
I don’t know what it’s going to take. All I know is we have to keep communicating and doing whatever we can on a local, state and national level.
@squeek
Thanks for reposting! I love Matt Taibbi. He wrote a good book about our 2-tiered justice system. Although now I think there are probably 3 since HRC was not indicted =)
I am familiar with that site – like you I zoom all over online. Information Clearing House is a fav.
Right now I am watching Milo at UMass. Wow – he is shaking up the snowflakes. There will be puddles after he’s done with them. For sure the far Left is as crazy as the Far Right
There is a strange sense of ignorance is bliss. The past is bliss??
If anybody thinks the current election choices and their perfidy is unique or worse than past candidates and practices, it’s only because instant mass production/publication are far reaching and uncontrolled.
It used to be that a burned document was ashes. A deleted document is still “there” somewhere.
With the gargantuan govt of today, there are so many more opportunities for “favors,” and the money is worth the risk.
The really dangerous time of a presidency is the three yr period before the end of the second term.
Squeeky, thanks for reposting bad seed; I hadn’t seen that before.
Autumn, the Taibbi story speaks for corruption in our own county. I think we are just about arriving at a time when the guillotines should come out again.
@Autumn
Sure, here it is!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CpR_dnZUsAErJdn.jpg
If you like that Tabibi article, then you might like the Yves Smith website, Naked Capitalism. I used to read it everyday, but stopped when they seemed to support the SJW fascists in Chicago. At which point, I just cut it off my list. But, it is a good source particularly under the “links” heading each day.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
@Paul
re: ” State is protecting Hillary and I don’t know why”
Course they are because they are owned by the corporate interests. You know corporate coup d’etat. I have a life long friend who works at State and he is afraid to say anything.
@KarenS
re: “She is like that grownup that is totally out of control, without good values and character, and a criminal because Mom and Dad checked out of parenting.”
Nothing one could have done – as Squeek has pointed out – she is a bad seed. a genetic flaw. inhumane, mean,
@Squeek
Can you repost that Bad Seed?
Don’t give up and just shout at clouds. We can unite and regain our country!!
Don’t Dream it’s Over!!
@Ralph
Dude – what are you smoking? I want some!
@slohrss29
Did you ever read “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” by John Perkins? Horrifying what the corporatists are doing to communities (and governments) all around the world. So, I knew that was going on and then to my horror I read Matt Taibbi’s article on the collusion of Goldman Sachs reaming Birmingham – wow – now it’s happening here. They are like cannibals feeding on us!!
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/jefferson-county-alabama-screwed-by-wall-street-still-paying-20110407
@philat
Did you know there are NO state troopers left in Arkansas? It’s true. She had them ALL killed. If you even apply to become a state trooper in that state she will kill you.
And she has some kind of lesbian Parkinson’s disease I heard from pharma bro.
And Julian Assange swears he has some something that’s going to totally honestly I’m not kidding this time going to bring her down. Drudge too.
Those 22 million missing emails from Karl Rove’s federal prosecutor scandal? She did that, and no one can prove she didn’t.
And I just heard today that she co-founded Isis and that the Congressional cuts in embassy security funding that led to the deaths in Benghazi were actually her fault because if she hadn’t been Secy of State they wouldn’t have had to cut funding!
You know what else?
Ladies and gents, I give you the Roberts Court. So corrupt in itself that in McCutcheon v FEC and other cases it has ruled that the APPEARANCE of corruption is not enough, and that only an actual, provable quid pro quo qualifies as corruption.
So the “access” sold by every member of the Congress and the Senate, and probably every person in government, is OK by them.
So secretary Clinton sold access to Clinton Foundation Donors? Whoop-di-doo!
Can’t wait for the outrage from Issa, McConnell, Cotton and others who do the same every day.
No, I don’t like it. And I don’t like Citizens United. Or Heller. And corporations are not people.
But we are stuck with this crap until we get the corporatists out of office.
And it won’t be Trump or Clinton. God knows they’re both sold out.
Let’s keep arguing about the lesser of two evils. One a corrupt politician with bad judgement and the other a thin-skinned narcissist with sociopathic tendencies.
Good luck America.