The embattled Clinton Foundation has quietly cuts ties with its chief fundraiser, Danielle Stilz, the Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group reports.
Stilz’s ouster reportedly came “earlier this year,” according to a Clinton Foundation spokesman. Stilz joined the New York City-based organization in 2012 and was most recently responsible for leading the “development department’s vision and goals and fostering relationships with individuals, foundations, and corporations to advance the mission of the Foundation,” according to the Clinton Foundation website.
Stilz served from 2005 to 2007 as chief fundraiser for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is currently serving out a 14-year sentence in a Colorado prison on multiple corruption charges.
A close and trusted Blagojevich aide, Stilz was at the center of the former governor’s “pay-to-play” scheme, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Indeed, Stilz’s departure from the Clinton family’s troubled charity comes amid plummeting donations and staff layoffs that have left leadership grappling with the question of whether the Clinton Foundation can survive in the era of Trump.
However, Stilz’s hiring stunned some foundation staffers.
“Given the degree under which the Clinton Foundation had been under scrutiny, how prudent was it of the trustees of the Clinton Foundation to hire this person in the first place,” said Charles Ortel, an investor and charitable expert who has been critical of the Clinton Foundation. “I think it’s indefensible decision to even consider this person for the foundation based on known facts.”
The Clinton Foundation, according to Congressman Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is still operating under the dark cloud of a federal investigation of Clinton’s unsecured private email server she used to store classified documents she collected during her tenure as Secretary of State.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.