At least four huge donors to the Clinton Foundation may be less likely to donate again after concerns about how the foundation is spending their money and numerous reports about the foundation’s lack of transparency, especially regarding foreign governments and entities that may have donated millions in order to gain influence with Hillary Clinton’s State Department.
According to a Politico report, a major donor who contributed “$500,000 to the foundation last year said a 2015 donation is less likely because of revelations about sloppy record-keeping and huge payments for travel and administrative costs” and “at least three other major donors also are re-evaluating whether to continue giving large donations” to the foundation.
One donor said, “we had some questions about how the money was being spent — and that was long before the problems were in the press.”
The Clinton Foundation, which came under fire for hypocritically accepting millions of donations from repressive Middle Eastern regimes with atrocious human rights records, is facing its most intense scrutiny after the mainstream media confirmed at least 11 blockbuster revelations from Government Accountability Institute President and Breitbart News Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer’s forthcoming book, Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.
According to Politico, “interviews with more than a dozen donors, staffers and operatives who have interacted with the foundation or continue to do so… portray an organization scrambling to address concerns about its budgeting, fundraising and donor-vetting while being buffeted by a raging political storm,” which is giving Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign “heartburn.”
Despite Bill Clinton’s objections, the foundation reportedly canceled an upcoming Athens press conference because of “concerns about damaging Hillary Clinton’s campaign by collaborating with a Greek government that is increasingly close to Russia’s combative president Vladimir Putin.” Chelsea Clinton also reportedly “objected to a suggestion that a high-profile program she spearheads, the Clinton Global Initiative University, be scaled back because it is as much as $700,000 in the red.” Chelsea Clinton reportedly argued that the university initiative was the most “pure” platform at the foundation, according to Politico.
On Sunday, the foundation’s interim chief executive, Maura Pally, conceded that the foundation–which has come under fire for, among many things, reneging on its agreement with the Obama administration to disclose donations from foreign governments–has “made mistakes.” She also admitted that the foundation would refile multiple tax returns because it combined government grants with foreign donations on them.
“Yes, we made mistakes, as many organizations of our size do, but we are acting quickly to remedy them, and have taken steps to ensure they don’t happen in the future,” Pauly wrote in a Sunday blog post.
Schweizer’s Clinton Cash has forced media organizations to scrutinize the Clinton Foundation and the Clintons like never before. And the foundation is likely to face even more heat as media outlets do more reporting based on the book. Revelations in Clinton Cash led media outlets this week, for instance, to unearth details about the foundation’s failure to disclose at least 1,100 donors and 181 foundation donors that also lobbied Hillary Clinton’s State Department.
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