| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Bill Clinton's Foundation Raised Millions From Foreign Governments |
| 2008-12-19 |
| Former President Bill Clinton has raised more than $500 million for his charitable foundation from foreign governments, including Saudi Arabia, and an international who's who of royal families, corporate barons, philanthropic foundations, entertainment personalities, Democratic donors and longtime friends of the Clinton family, according to a list of donors made public for the first time this morning. Lifting a veil of secrecy aggressively protected by the former president, the William J. Clinton Foundation disclosed a 2,922-page list of more than 200,000 benefactors as part of an accord with President-elect Barack Obama that allows Clinton's wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), to become secretary of state. Among the multimillion-dollar donors -- whose identities have remained anonymous for more than a decade -- are several foreign states, multinational corporations and international business moguls. They represent a thicket of potential conflicts of interest that Hillary Clinton must avoid should the Senate approve Obama's nomination to make her the nation's top diplomat. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Australian government's overseas aid program and a Dominican Republic government agency that fights AIDS each gave between $10 million and $25 million to the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit that financed Bill Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., and funds charitable efforts fight poverty and chronic global health problems. Norway gave between $5 million and $10 million, while Brunei, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar each donated between $1 million and $5 million. The Jamaican and Italian governments each donated between $50,000 and $100,000, according to the foundation's donor list. Real estate and Hollywood mogul Stephen L. Bing, New York billionaire B. Thomas Golisano, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Chicago media magnate Fred Eychaner were among the biggest donors, giving between $10 million and $25 million each. One of the more controversial donations came from Frank Giustra, a financier of mining ventures who flew Clinton to Kazakhstan in 2005 on his private jet as the former president solicited donations. Clinton praised Kazakhstan's authoritarian president, and Giustra later agreed to invest in uranium projects controlled by the government. Giustra gave $10 million to $25 million, and the Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative gave between $1 million and $5 million, according to the donor list. The Clinton Foundation did not release the details of each gift; neither the exact amounts nor the dates of the donations were disclosed. Instead, it listed dollar amounts within broad ranges, emulating the rules for filling out federal financial disclosure forms. "I want to personally express my deepest appreciation to our many contributors, who remain steadfast partners in our work to impact the lives of so many around the world in measurable and meaningful ways," Bill Clinton said in a statement. "We have just begun, and it is an honor and privilege to be on this journey alongside each and every person who is committed to our foundation's ongoing charitable mission." |
| Posted by:Fred |