About Contact Archives RSS Columns Photos

Hillary gets Sec of State nod on Monday; Bill will cough up secret donor names

By Michelle Malkin  •  November 29, 2008 11:28 PM

The Clintons refused to tell the public who was donating millions upon millions of dollars to Billy Boy’s charitable foundation and library fund during her presidential run. But in a deal with Team Obama, this long-sought-after disclosure is apparently the price they are willing to pay to secure her Secretary of State nomination.

It will be announced on Monday, according to wire reports:

President-elect Barack Obama planned to nominate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as his secretary of state on Monday, transforming a once-bitter political rivalry into a high-level strategic and diplomatic partnership.

Obama will name the New York senator to his national security team at a news conference in Chicago, Democratic officials said Saturday. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly for the transition team.

To clear the way for his wife to take the job, former President Bill Clinton agreed to disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation. He’ll also refuse donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference, and will cease holding C.G.I. meetings overseas.

Bill Clinton’s business deals and global charitable endeavors were expected to create problems for the former first lady’s nomination. But in negotiations with the Obama transition team, the former president agreed to several measures designed to bring transparency to his post-presidential work.

Here’s what we do know about Clinton’s foreign backers as a result of voluntary disclosures, via USAToday from April 2008:

Donors have pledged more than $500 million for construction of the library and for the Clinton Foundation, which administers the library as well as his global anti-AIDS and sustainable development campaigns.

That is an enormous amount for someone to be raising from friends, business partners, foreign governments and interested parties who are either barred from making campaign contributions or limited to the $2,300 maximum. Because of the former president’s unusual position and the sheer size of this conduit into a potential presidential administration, the complete list of donors should be made public.

Some donors volunteered their names at the time of their gifts or when asked by reporters. What little is known about the others suggests that a good number are as interested in influencing public policy, or benefiting from the Clintons’ worldwide ties, as they are in supporting presidential scholarship or economic development.

The Saudi royal family gave $10 million, according to The Washington Post, and numerous foreign governments have given $1 million. The largest contributors appear to include Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú, Canadian mining entrepreneur Frank Giustra and the Lundin Group, a Canadian oil and gas company. Each has publicly pledged $100 million for development projects.

These gifts raise a number of questions, particularly in the case of Giustra, who in 2005 flew with Clinton to Kazakhstan, where his connections to the former president impressed officials enough to win him a lucrative uranium mining contract. They also raise the question of what favors might be sought by other donors who don’t want to be identified.

Clinton argues that the confidentiality he promised his donors should take precedence over calls for transparency…

Never mind all that now. Hillary’s got a Foggy Bottom office with her name on it. Confidentiality, schmonfidentiality.

Should be quite a treasure trove when those full donor lists are released.

They are going to be released, aren’t they, Mr. Hope and Change?

***

The NYT reports on the other conditions the Clintons agreed to:

The disclosure of contributors is among nine conditions that Mr. Clinton signed off on during discussions with representatives of Mr. Obama; all go beyond the requirements of law. Among other issues, he agreed to incorporate his Clinton Global Initiative separately from his foundation so that he has less direct involvement. The initiative, which promotes efforts to fight disease, poverty and climate change, would no longer hold annual meetings outside of the United States or accept new contributions from foreign governments.

Mr. Clinton also agreed to submit his future personal speeches and business activities for review by State Department ethics officials and, if necessary, by the White House counsel’s office.

The former president’s web of business and charitable activities raised questions about how he could continue to travel the world soliciting multimillion-dollar contributions for his foundation and collecting six-figure speaking fees for himself from foreign organizations and individuals while his wife conducted American foreign policy.

Lawyers for Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama spent days crafting the agreement in hopes of addressing any concerns about Mr. Clinton’s activities. He had previously said he would do whatever the Obama transition team asked in order to make it possible for his wife to serve without questions. Mr. Obama’s team said it was satisfied that the concessions Mr. Clinton made should defuse any potential controversy. Until Saturday, only some elements of the agreement had become public.

Neither Mr. Obama’s office nor Mr. Clinton’s office would comment. The disclosure of Mr. Clinton’s full agreement on a Saturday night might have the effect of drawing less attention to it while keeping the focus Monday on Mrs. Clinton.

See what others have said

Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.

Trackbacks

  1. Hillary to be named Secretary of State on Monday December 1st | Fire Andrea Mitchell!
  2. Bloodthirsty Liberal » Desperate Househusband
  3. Business as usual and the problem with “moderates” « Mark’s Musings
  4. Hillary SoS appointment to be announced tomorrow!! « Moderate in the Middle
  5. Hillary To Get The Nod On Monday « Beltway Snark
  6. Eew, Eew, Eew & Eeeeeewwww | Democrat=Socialist
  7. Jules Crittenden » Kumbayah, My Lord
  8. UrbanGrounds » Blog Archive » Choosing Not to Blog About Certain Topics
  9. Hillary Clinton to Get Sceretary of State, Bill Must Provide Secret Donar Names | Scared Monkeys
  10. hill’s in | Blatherings Blog
  11. WO’s Daily Roundup | Without Objection
  12. Political Opinion « Capitalist View
  13. Political Opinion « Capitalist View
  14. Health Care BS - SQUEALER SAYS HILLARY NOW FIT TO SERVE
  15. Jules Crittenden » It’s Clinton-Bush!
  16. Bill Clinton’s Transparency (What Do Margaret & Helen Think?) « Zipline Conservative
  17. Who’s the Boss? | BobMaistros.com
  18. Barack Hussein Obama's Puppeteer's AKA Clintons' foreign funders | Impeach Barack Hussein Obama.US Blogs
  19. Who’s Who On The Bill Clinton Donors List « Jane Q. Republican

Trackback URL

Comments

Comment pages: « 1 [2]

  1. #101
    On December 1st, 2008 at 1:06 am, RabbidSquirrel said:

    Are any of these anonymous donors in those FBI files that Hillary had stashed in her White House closet back in the day?

  2. #102
    On December 1st, 2008 at 3:31 am, Mookie said:
  3. #103
    On December 1st, 2008 at 8:38 am, TacitEagle said:

    Hillary and Bill have sold their souls. Again.

  4. #104
    On December 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am, Ed Mahmoud abu al-Kahoul said:

    Um, they are married in name only, and for her own good, she should divorce him and move in with Donna Shalala.

  5. #105
    On December 1st, 2008 at 9:48 am, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    With President-Elect BroBama now set to appoint Dr. Susan Rice as US Ambassador to the UN we’ll see how it goes: two Alpha Females fighting for the limelight. Dr. Susan Rice was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under the Clinton Co-Presidency AND a leading force to get the US involved in Darfur.

    I hope the Republicans in the Senate trash her the way the Democrats trashed John Bolton. Tit for Tat, but twice as fast, twice as hard.

  6. #106
    On December 1st, 2008 at 9:49 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

    At what point, is the laundry so dirty that you decide to throw it out and buy new? What is it with these people, that they feel the need to surround themselves with the most despicable cretins? I thought Mr. Hopey Changy was suuposed to bring us fresh air, not sniffing farts out of the bedsheets again?

  7. #107
    On December 1st, 2008 at 10:00 am, DBNinKY said:

    “I hope the Republicans in the Senate trash her the way the Democrats trashed John Bolton. Tit for Tat… .”

    Me too, AN!

    And because Republicans have gravitas in areas of defense - something Democrats do not - it’ll carry much more weight and be far more effective at squelching Sue Rice than the left’s sour-grapes swipes at Bolton.

  8. #108
    On December 1st, 2008 at 10:04 am, sonofdy said:

    I heard someone on MSNBC call this a center right bunch. Not buying it myself.

  9. #109
    On December 1st, 2008 at 10:06 am, MtsEdge said:

    On December 1st, 2008 at 10:04 am, sonofdy said:
    I heard someone on MSNBC call this a center right bunch. Not buying it myself.

    Ditto. The “news” is more appropriately described as “propaganda” these days.

  10. #110
    On December 1st, 2008 at 10:10 am, sonofdy said:

    Geee, and just think, Obamas going to have full support of the house and possiably fillibuster proof majority in the senate. (not counting the rinos who will make that essentualy the case anyway) The who concept of checks and balances are gone. Obama can do whatever he wants. The only check will be his desire to remain “popular”. And maybe, MAYBE the supreme court.

  11. #111
    On December 1st, 2008 at 10:15 am, MtsEdge said:

    And maybe, MAYBE the supreme court.

    That won’t last long, either.

  12. #112
    On December 1st, 2008 at 10:55 am, symrian said:

    Anyone else thinking Hillary just got outmaneuvered again?

    I don’t expect the list of donors to Bill’s presidential library to be released. Not when Obama can use it as blackmail to keep Hillary in line as Secretary of State and out of his hair in 2012.

    This isn’t good. Obama’s not acting like he’s as dumb as Carter. He’s certainly using his head for his own purposes, but he’s not going to be a pushover opponent.

  13. #113
    On December 1st, 2008 at 10:58 am, DBNinKY said:

    On December 1st, 2008 at 8:38 am, TacitEagle said:

    Hillary and Bill have sold their souls. Again.

    I’d say in this case it’s more like a short-term lease; because at the first sign of trouble for Obama, HRC will be out the door to snag the Dem nod from him for 2012.

Comment pages: « 1 [2]

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Obama promises to work weekends to pass Generational Theft Act

January 8, 2009 11:41 AM by Michelle Malkin

115 Comments | 9 Trackbacks

The Wealth Redistributor-Elect speaks.

Hillary Clinton’s pay-for-pay problem

January 8, 2009 10:45 AM by Michelle Malkin

21 Comments | 5 Trackbacks

Quid pro quo.

CNN’s Sanjay Gupta for surgeon general. What next?

January 6, 2009 04:05 PM by Michelle Malkin

147 Comments | 19 Trackbacks

“In 2003, he was named one of PEOPLE magazine’s ‘Sexiest Men Alive’ and a ‘pop culture icon’ by USA Today.”

The schlock inauguration: QVC + Obama = Cheesified

January 5, 2009 10:42 PM by Michelle Malkin

60 Comments | 6 Trackbacks

The new parenting tool: Barack Obama

January 3, 2009 05:35 PM by Michelle Malkin

81 Comments | 10 Trackbacks

Role model: WWBD?

Team Obama: Still grubbing

December 30, 2008 05:29 PM by Michelle Malkin

123 Comments | 9 Trackbacks

Gertz: Obama keeps Bush war team

December 23, 2008 11:31 AM by Michelle Malkin

37 Comments | 6 Trackbacks

Hillmas shopping spree

December 23, 2008 11:04 AM by Michelle Malkin

14 Comments | 2 Trackbacks


Categories: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton


Bench Memos

» Sunstein to OIRA

Riehl World View

» An Unnecessary President

Weekly Standard

» Beat to the Punch