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FBI, DOJ launch Probe into Firm of Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta

August 21, 2016

FBI, DOJ launch Probe into Firm of Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta, Breitbart, Jerome Hudson, August 20, 2016

clin podGetty

The FBI and Justice Department have launched an investigation into whether the Podesta Group, the lobbying and public relations firm co-founded by Hillary Clinton presidential campaign chairman John Podesta, has any connections to alleged corruption that occurred in the administration of former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych.

The federal probe is, CNN reports, “examining the work of other firms linked to the former Ukrainian government, including that of the Podesta Group.”

The Podesta Group, run by John Podest’s brother Tony Podesta, was retained by the Russia-controlled firm UraniumOne in 2012, 2014, and 2015, to lobby Hillary Clinton’s State Department. The lobbying firm was paid a total of $180,000 according to public records.

Yanukovych took office in February 2010. He was forced to flee to Russian after a political uprising in Ukraine. Federal prosecutors are probing the work Yanukovych’s regime paid the Podesta Group to do while he was the head of the Ukrainian government.

As it was first detailed in the New York Times bestselling book Clinton Cash, Uranium One — which hired the Podesta Group — is the firm that funneled millions to the Clinton Foundation as the Russian government gained ownership of the company.

According to the New York Times, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a “goal of controlling much of the global uranium supply chain.”

The Times reported last April:

As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company made donations as well.

“And shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock,” the Times report said.

According to the Daily Caller, Uranium One “paid the Podesta Group $40,000 to lobby the State Department, the Senate, the National Park Service, and the National Security Council for ‘international mining projects,’ according to a July 20, 2012 filing.”

Distancing itself from the work it did for an organization with ties to Yanukovych’s pro-Russian regime, the Podesta group said it hired lawyers to examine its relationship with the organization linked to the ousted Ukrainian president.

“The firm has retained Caplin & Drysdale as independent, outside legal counsel to determine if we were misled by the Centre for a Modern Ukraine or any other individuals with regard to the Centre’s potential ties to foreign governments or political parties,” a Podesta Group statement said, according to CNN. The statement continued:

When the Centre became a client, it certified in writing that ‘none of the activities of the Centre are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed or subsidized in whole or in part by a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party.’ We relied on that certification and advice from counsel in registering and reporting under the Lobbying Disclosure Act rather than the Foreign Agents Registration Act. We will take whatever measures are necessary to address this situation based on Caplin & Drysdale’s review, including possible legal action against the Centre.

The FBI and DOJ investigation is also examining former Donald Trump presidential campaign manager Paul Manafort’s firm, according to CNN.

Spokesman from the federal agencies as well as Manafort’s firm have not commented on the ongoing investigation.

Categories: Clinton campaign, Clinton Foundation, Corruption, Manafort, Podesta, Trump campaign, Uranium
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‘Clinton Cash’ Author: Clinton Foundation Foreign Cash Ban ‘Too Little, Too Late’

August 19, 2016

‘Clinton Cash’ Author: Clinton Foundation Foreign Cash Ban ‘Too Little, Too Late’, Breitbart, Peter Schweizer, August 18, 2016

Bill-Clinton-Hillary-Clinton-Clinton-Global-Initiative-Foundation-AP-640x480Greg Allen/Invision/AP

If it would be wrong for Hillary’s foundation to accept foreign cash as president, why wasn’t it wrong for Hillary’s foundation to accept foreign cash from oligarchs and countries who had business pending on her desk as Sec. of State?

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In the wake of reports that the Clinton Foundation may have been hacked, Hillary Clinton’s embattled foundation announced on Thursday that, if Clinton is elected, her foundation will no longer accept the kinds of foreign and corporate donations at the heart of the Clinton Cash scandal.

The new pledge is a stunning tacit admission of wrongdoing, but it comes too little too late and raises the obvious question: If it would be wrong for Hillary’s foundation to accept foreign cash as president, why wasn’t it wrong for Hillary’s foundation to accept foreign cash from oligarchs and countries who had business pending on her desk as Sec. of State?

Moreover, if, as has been confirmed by numerous mainstream media organizations, Hillary Clinton violated her ethics pledge with the Obama administration to disclose all Clinton Foundation donations, why should the American people believe she would now honor a new pledge to forgo bagging cash from foreign oligarchs and countries?

After all, as both Bloomberg and the Washington Post have reported, Hillary’s foundation has still not revealed 1,100 foreign donations. And as Clinton Cash revealed, other hidden foreign donations include four totaling $2.35 million from Ian Telfer, the former head of one of the Russian government’s uranium companies, Uranium One. Let that sink in: the head of Russian’s uranium company was transferring funds to Hillary Clinton’s foundation.

Only now, with the fear of hacked emails being made public, has Hillary Clinton decided to entertain the idea of putting an end to the unprecedented practice of a sitting executive branch official with foreign policies pending on her desk accepting hundreds of millions of foreign dollars.

Indeed, for years, and as recently as this week, voices across the political spectrum have been appalled by the glaring conflict of interest and pleaded for the Clinton Foundation to reject foreign money in the hopes of reducing the threat of influence peddling and pay-to-play schemes. The New York Times, the Boston Globe, and even former Democratic National Committee Chairman Ed Rendell have all called on Hillary to stop. She refused. Only once it became clear that the Clinton Foundation may have been vulnerable to hacking, and the potential exposure of internal communications became a serious threat, did she decide to cut off the spigot of foreign funds into her foundation.

This week, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) launched a probe to discover why the Obama Dept. of Justice blocked multiple FBI field office requests to investigate the Clinton Foundation. That’s a start. And the Clinton Cash documentary has now been viewed well over three million times.

But pressing broader questions remain, questions national mainstream media have heretofore been afraid to ask Hillary Clinton about the most glaring and vast series of conflicts of interest in modern American politics.

Hillary Clinton has not answered why her State Dept. approved the transfer of 20% of all U.S. uranium to Russia while not disclosing to the Obama administration that nine investors in that uranium deal funneled $145 million to the Clinton Foundation.

Hillary Clinton has not answered why her brother, Tony Rodham, sat on the board of a company that received a rare “gold exploitation permit” from the Haitian government while she was dispersing billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in Haiti earthquake disaster relief.

Hillary Clinton has not answered why she hid $2.35 million in Clinton Foundation donations from the head of one of the Russian government’s uranium companies.

Hillary Clinton has not answered why she has yet to release the names of the 1,100 foreign Clinton Foundation donors that both Bloomberg and the Washington Post confirm remain secret.

Hillary Clinton has not answered why it was appropriate for Bill Clinton to deliver a $500,000 speech in Moscow paid for by a Kremlin-backed bank while she led the so-called Russian reset as Sec. of State—a Clinton Cash revelation so egregious, that even the progressive New Yorker magazine was left to ponder, “Why was Bill Clinton taking any money from a bank linked to the Kremlin while his wife was Secretary of State?”

Hillary Clinton has not answered why her current campaign chairman, John Podesta, sat on the board of a company alongside Russian officials that received $35 million from Rusnano, Vladimir Putin’s funding apparatus.

Hillary Clinton has not answered whether her husband will stop giving paid speeches.

Myriad questions have gone unasked and unanswered about the toxic brew of foreign cash and Hillary Clinton’s State Dept. decisions.

Perhaps now, with this stunning new tacit admission of unethical and inappropriate behavior by Hillary Clinton and her foundation, will the mainstream media find the spine to do the hard work of investigative reporting and the courage to demand serious answers.

Categories: 2016 elections, Clinton Cash film, Clinton Foundation, Corruption, Department of State, Hillary Clinton
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Senator: U.S. Taxpayer Funds Potentially Diverted to Hamas Terrorists

August 18, 2016

Senator: U.S. Taxpayer Funds Potentially Diverted to Hamas Terrorists, Washington Free Beacon,  , August 18, 2016

hamas (1)Hamas militants of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza City / AP

U.S. donations to “numerous humanitarian organizations” have been funneled to Hamas “to support its terror and military organizations,” according to Rubio and information disclosed by the Israeli government.

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A leading Republican senator is calling on the Obama administration to launch a formal investigation into the potential diversion of U.S. taxpayer funds to organizations that have reportedly been infiltrated by the Hamas terror organization, according to new documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) is petitioning the State Department to investigate how much U.S. government and taxpayer money may have been given to charities recently discovered to have been secretly infiltrated by Hamas operatives, according to a letter sent by Rubio to Secretary of State John Kerry. He is also calling on the Obama administration to suspend all aid to Gaza until reviews can be undertaken to ensure funds are not disbursed to terror organizations.

U.S. donations to “numerous humanitarian organizations” have been funneled to Hamas “to support its terror and military organizations,” according to Rubio and information disclosed by the Israeli government.

Israeli authorities recently arrested employees working for the nonprofit organization World Vision and the United Nations Development Program. The employees were charged with providing material and financial support to Hamas. Both organizations have received funding from the United States.

Rubio is requesting that the State Department “investigate every allegation and use all resources to ensure American taxpayer dollars as well as individual private donations of Americans are not being used to fund terrorism,” according to the Thursday letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Free Beacon.

“Hamas officials have allegedly infiltrated numerous aid organizations as employees and used their access to redirect western aid to terrorist groups,” according to Rubio.

One individual, Mohammed El-Halabi, was employed as the Gaza director of World Vision. The Israeli government determined he was “a major figure in the terrorist/military arm of Hamas” and alleged that “El-Halabi has been taking advantage of his position to divert the humanitarian organization’s funds and resources from the needy to benefit Hamas’ terrorist and military activities.”

The United States is the world’s larger donor nation, meaning that funds allocated for humanitarian assistance may have been diverted to Hamas operations, according to Rubio.

“As the largest donor nation in the world, these reports of humanitarian assistance going to Hamas are very concerning,” he wrote. “We must ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars are not being siphoned off by murderous terrorist groups such as Hamas. U.S. taxpayers, many of whom donate their own money to charities such as World Vision, should also be able to do so with confidence that their money will not fund terrorism.”

Germany and Australia have already suspended all funding for World Vision programs in the Gaza Strip until a formal investigation is complete. Rubio is asking that the Obama administration to go further.

“I urge you to suspend all U.S. assistance to Gaza until a review of the controls in place to prevent a diversion of funds can occur,” Rubio writes. “The review should examine the mechanisms that exist to identify and stop any potential misuse of taxpayer dollars in Gaza as well as the auditing processes of organizations working in areas controlled by Hamas or any other terrorist group.”

Rubio said he is not surprised that Hamas has been exploiting charitable organizations in order to fund terrorism against Israel and the West.

“Although these allegations are shocking, I am not surprised that Hamas uses humanitarian aid to further its terror campaign against Israel,” he wrote. “Hamas routinely tortures journalists, kills dissidents, and uses civilians as human shields. Hamas is the leading cause of Palestinian suffering in Gaza, including apparently stealing millions of dollars of humanitarian aid that should have gone to the Palestinian people.”

Categories: Corruption, Department of State, Hamas, Israel, U.S. Congress
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Schweizer: ‘Now We Have, Influencing Our Politics and Getting Favors and Access, Foreign Oligarchs’

August 13, 2016

Schweizer: ‘Now We Have, Influencing Our Politics and Getting Favors and Access, Foreign Oligarchs’, Breitbart, Ian Hanchett, August 13, 2016

On Saturday’s “Smerconish” on CNN, Breitbart editor at large and author of “Clinton Cash” Peter Schweizer stated that “The Clinton Foundation and the Bill Clinton speaking fees are a way around” are ways around federal law preventing foreign nationals from putting money into campaigns to get access, and “So, now we have, influencing our policies and getting favors and access, foreign oligarchs, not just American businesses and citizens.”

Schweizer said, “We all know that in politics a guy on Wall Street raises money for a candidate, sometimes because they want access and they want favors, but federal law prevents foreign nationals from doing that. If you’re a guy like Gilbert Chagoury, you cannot put money in a campaign to get access, because we don’t want foreign entities getting access and influencing our policymakers. The Clinton Foundation and the Bill Clinton speaking fees are a way around that. That’s why you have guys like Gilbert Chagoury, Frank Giustra, and others sending them large checks. So, now we have, influencing our policies and getting favors and access, foreign oligarchs, not just American businesses and citizens.”

Schwezier added of Chagoury, “I don’t think he is being suggested because of his Lebanese expertise. He’s being suggested because he’s a major Clinton Foundation donor. By the way, he’s somebody with a criminal record, convicted in Switzerland for aiding and abetting a criminal enterprise and money laundering, because he had this slight problem, he helped the Nigerian dictator, Abacha, smuggle billions of dollars out of the country into Swiss bank accounts. And he’s also very controversial in Lebanon. He does not represent a mainstream view of Lebanese opinion.”

Categories: Clinton Foundation, Corruption, Department of State, Hillary Clinton
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Justice Department officials pushed for Clinton Foundation probe

August 11, 2016

Justice Department officials pushed for Clinton Foundation probe, Washington Examiner, Sarah Westwood, August 11, 2016

Top Justice Department officials pushed for a public corruption probe of the Clinton Foundation earlier this year, but were overruled by their colleagues after a bank alerted the FBI to the “suspicious activity” of a foreign donor to the charity.

Three Justice Department field offices agreed that the agency should pursue the investigation at the behest of the FBI, CNN reported Thursday.

During a previously unreported meeting earlier this year, high-ranking Justice Department officials clashed over the possibility of pursuing a public corruption investigation. According to CNN, the agency had already looked into the Clinton Foundation in 2015 following the publication of a book, Clinton Cash, that detailed allegations of influence peddling.

Hillary Clinton’s involvement in the activities of foundation donors while serving as secretary of state has raised questions about whether she followed the ethics requirements imposed on her and her husband at the outset of her tenure.

While the FBI announced last month its intention to close a year-long probe of Clinton’s private email use without recommending charges, the law enforcement agency had remained silent on the existence of a separate, rumored investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

Categories: Clinton Foundation, Corruption, Department of Justice
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Compromised: Justice Dept. Refused FBI Probe of Clinton Foundation

August 11, 2016

Compromised: Justice Dept. Refused FBI Probe of Clinton Foundation, Front Page Magazine, Matthew Vadum, August 11, 2016

(Please see also, Report: Justice Department declined FBI request to investigate Clinton Foundation. — DM)

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The highly politicized Department of Justice swatted down pesky FBI requests to investigate the Clinton Foundation earlier this year, CNN reported yesterday.

CNN buried the lede, as it frequently does on news stories that make Democrats look bad. The online version bears the innocuous-sounding headline, “Newly released Clinton emails shed light on relationship between State Dept. and Clinton Foundation.”

It is not until the 25th paragraph that the article states that an unidentified law enforcement official gave CNN a heads-up earlier this year. As the probe of Clinton’s private email servers was ramping up “several FBI field offices approached the Justice Department asking to open a case regarding the relationship between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation.”

At that time, the article continues, the Justice Department “declined because it had looked into allegations surrounding the Clinton Foundation around a year earlier and found there wasn’t sufficient evidence to open a case.”

Not even enough evidence to look into the foundation’s affairs?

Not more than a year after the publication of Peter Schweizer’s blockbuster book, Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich, opened the floodgates for investigative reporters to dig into the matter.

As I’ve written before, various lawyers have told me there is already a strong legal case against Mrs. Clinton. The fact that she destroyed email evidence — evidence subject to a congressional subpoena, no less — is already evidence in itself that she obstructed justice through spoliation of evidence. Spoliation means you can take as evidence the fact that evidence has been destroyed. Courts are entitled to draw spoliation inferences and convict an accused person on that basis alone.

The only reason FBI Director James Comey didn’t recommend she be prosecuted is because, well, he lacks a spine and he’s corrupt. He said there was no evidence of Clinton’s “efforts to obstruct justice,” a requirement that does not actually appear in the Espionage Act.

Evidence of corruption at the Clinton Foundation is everywhere, yet CNN and much of the mainstream media are still doing everything they can to ignore, misrepresent, or downplay the questionable things Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton did through the foundation.

The congenitally corrupt Clintons created their private email system to frustrate Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) requesters, shield Hillary’s correspondence from congressional oversight, and steer money to their corrupt foundation, which, amazingly enough, still enjoys tax-exempt status.

These illegal, insecure private email servers Clinton used while at the State Department are at the heart of the scandal over her mishandling of an Islamic terrorist attack in militant-infested Benghazi, Libya on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 that left four Americans, including U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens, dead. Even now, four years after the assault, the Obama administration has failed to provide an autopsy report about Stevens who was initially reported to have been ritualistically sodomized before being murdered by Muslim terrorists.

Every few days Judicial Watch has been releasing emails obtained under FoIA that may ultimately lead to evidence of political interference at the highest levels that provided cover for the anticipatory presidential bribe processing vehicle known as the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

“No wonder Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin hid emails from the American people, the courts and Congress,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “They show the Clinton Foundation, Clinton donors, and operatives worked with Hillary Clinton in potential violation of the law.”

On Tuesday the watchdog group published emails sent to Abedin, Clinton’s longtime aide with generational ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, seeking favors. Abedin now vice-chairs Clinton’s presidential campaign. She also worked at the State Department with Clinton and with her at the Clinton Foundation.

“The new documents reveal that in April 2009 controversial Clinton Foundation official Doug Band pushed for a job for an associate,” according to a Judicial Watch summary. “In the email Band tells Hillary Clinton’s former aides at the State Department Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin that it is “important to take care of [Redacted]. Band is reassured by Abedin that “Personnel has been sending him options.” Band was co-founder of Teneo Strategy with Bill Clinton and a top official of the Clinton Foundation, including its Clinton Global Initiative.”

Emails also show Abedin left then-Secretary Clinton’s daily schedule, presumably a  sensitive document, on a bed in an unlocked hotel room.

“An email on April 18, 2009, during a conference in Trinidad and Tobago, from aide Melissa J. Lan to Huma Abedin asks for the Secretary’s “day book binders.” Abedin replies: “Yes. It’s on the bed in my room. U can take it. My door is open. I’m in the lobby. Thx.” Moreover, the emails show the annoyance of another Clinton aide that the schedule was sent to an authorized State Department email address and not to an unsecured non-state.gov account.”

Other emails show Clinton campaign adviser and pollster Mark Penn provided Clinton advice on NATO and piracy. Clinton fundraiser Lana Moresky asked Clinton to have the State Department hire someone. Clinton asked Abedin to follow up and “help” the applicant and asked Abedin to “let me know” about the job.

Meanwhile, the Left is trying to take the focus off the Clinton Foundation.

A high-profile watchdog group controlled by Hillary Clinton ally David Brock is demanding the IRS investigate Donald Trump’s personal foundation for allegedly aiding his presidential campaign.

The call by CREW, or Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has to be the most obvious political hit job of this election cycle.

CREW is a member of what some in the conservative think tank community call the “Brocktopus,” that is, the network of groups the disgraced former journalist runs, which spends oodles of money defending all things Clinton. An admitted serial liar, Brock’s empire of sleaze also includes “conservative misinformation” watchdog Media Matters for America, pro-Hillary disaster-control spin site Correct the Record, and American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC that promotes Hillary and attacks her critics.

CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder asked the IRS to investigate the Donald J. Trump Foundation, a tiny nonprofit founded by Trump decades ago to give away profits from his book, The Art of the Deal.

How the foundation, which ranked 4,347th in the FoundationSearch “Top Foundations by Assets for the state of New York” list would help the Trump campaign isn’t clear. “The Trump Foundation has no full-time staff, and gave away just $591,000 in 2014 — the last year for which records are available,” the Washington Post reports.

It’s possible the Trump Foundation has been helping the Trump campaign but the philanthropy is so anemic it is difficult to imagine it doing much to help its benefactor’s political career. Even if the IRS takes up this piddling little case not much is likely to come of it. It’s a political stunt by CREW, a nakedly partisan group under the boot of one of Hillary’s biggest backers.

It’s the wheeling and dealing Clinton Foundation with its involvement in billion-dollar transactions, its ties to shady figures, and the debt it owes to the unsavory governments of countries around the world that needs to be properly and thoroughly examined.

Categories: 2016 elections, Clinton Cash film, Clinton cover ups, Clinton Foundation, Clinton obstructions of justice, Clinton unsecured server, Corruption, Department of Justice, Department of State, Donald Trump, Media and Donald Trump, Media and Hillary Clinton
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Another Day, Another Hillary/Clinton Foundation Scandal

August 10, 2016

Another Day, Another Hillary/Clinton Foundation Scandal, Power Line, Paul Mirengoff, August 10, 2016

(Please see also, Report: Justice Department declined FBI request to investigate Clinton Foundation. — DM)

In today’s installment we learn that (1) Hillary Clinton, during an official visit to Bangladesh as Secretary of State, publicly defended the bank of a crooked long-time friend of her husband and major Clinton Foundation donor, (2) in response, the Clinton Foundation emailed top Hillary aide Cheryl Mills about accepting a donation from the bank and a giant Abu Dhabi oil company, (3) The Clinton Foundation accepted the donation, and (4) Bill Clinton ended up with a big speaking fee.

This information comes from a May 7, 2012, email chain between Mills and the Clinton Foundation’s foreign policy director, obtained through the legal efforts of Citizens United, and from the reporting of Richard Pollock of the Daily Caller.

As always with Clinton cash corruption, you can’t tell the players without a scorecard. The players here, in addition to the Clintons and Cheryl Mills, are:

Muhammad Yunnus — a longtime friend of Bill Clinton. He has often been a featured speaker at the annual Clinton Global Initiative celebrity galas in New York. His Grameen America foundation donated between $100,000 to $250,000, according to the Clinton Foundation website. During Hillary’s tenure at State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, a State Department division, awarded millions of grant dollars to Yunus and to his allies

The Grameen Bank — a Bangladesh bank run by Yunnus that was supposed to give out “micro-loans” to poor women in the country.

TAQA — a giant oil and gas company in Abu Dhabi, formally known as the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company. Owned mostly by the Abu Dhabi government, it operates in 11 countries, including Canada and the United States. In 2010, it won the first of three “blanket agreements” with the Obama administration to import billions of cubic feet of natural gas from Canada into the United States.

Linda Andich — the Clinton Foundation’s development director.

Amitabh Desai — the Clinton Foundation’s foreign policy director.

The story begins when Yunus was charged by an official Bangladeshi commission with financial mismanagement of Grameen Bank. Eventually, he was forced to leave the bank. Hillary responded to the charges against Yunus by publicly urging the government of Bangladesh not to do anything to undermine his bank. She said this during an official visit to Bangladesh.

Then came the May 7, 2012 email chain that Citizens United recently pried loose. The chain kicks off when Linda Andich of the Clinton Foundation saw an Associated Press article about Clinton’s intervention on behalf of Yunus. Aldridge attached the AP article to an email to Desai (the Clinton Foundation’s foreign policy director) and wrote:

Just reading about HRC’s support of the Grameen Bank, which prompted me to check in for any updates for the State Department, re: the Donation from TAQA.

She added:

To refresh, they bought the ‘spend a day with President Clinton’ auction experience — donation to be split 50/50 with Grameen. The winners are top execs from their Scottish office, not Abu Dhabi.

Three hours later, Desai forwarded Andich’s email to Mills and wrote, “we’d welcome your guidance on accepting funds from TAQA.” Mills replied, “Will call to discuss.”

The donation of TAQA funds was being offered by TAQA managing director in Scotland. He had agreed to give $60,000 to the foundation for Bill to speak at a Scotland charity and auction.

Ultimately, the Foundation accepted the donation of $60,000. Bill went to Scotland where, in addition to collecting the donation to his Foundation, he received at least $250,000 for a speech before a group called “Business For Change,” according to the Foundation’s website. The black tie dinner raised funds for Yunus and his bank.

And a good time was had by all.

This scenario repeats a familiar pattern documented by Peter Schweitzer in Clinton Cash. Hillary Clinton, in her capacity as Secretary of State, does a favor for a big donor. The donor contributes more money. Bill Clinton gets a lucrative speaking opportunity.

As usual, too, there is a very deep pocket in the picture. Here, it is TAQA/Abu Dhabi. As Pollack shows, the Clintons’ connections with Abu Dhabi run deep, as do Cheryl Mills’.

But here we also have evidence of involvement by Hillary Clinton’s top State Department aide in the transfer of money from a Clinton Foundation donor to the Clinton Foundation. Foundation staff sought “guidance” on accepting the dough.

We don’t know what guidance Mills gave. However, the donation went through, which suggests that Mills, in the phone call she promised, authorized it.

Why did the Foundation seek Mills’ (and therefore Hillary’s) guidance. Presumably, to make sure the donation wouldn’t embarrass Hillary. Note how Andich pointed out that the winners of “the Bill Clinton experience” would be executives from TAQ’s Scottish office, not from Abu Dhabi.

As I discussed in connection with yesterday’s Hillary/Clinton Foundation scandal, Hillary Clinton agreed to the following before she became Secretary of State:

For the duration of my appointment as Secretary if I am confirmed, I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which The William J. Clinton Foundation (or the Clinton Global Initiative) is a party or represents a party.

Signing off on contributions to the Clinton Foundation strikes me as inconsistent with that pledge. And the whole deal stinks.

Categories: Clinton character, Clinton Foundation, Corruption, Department of State, Hillary Clinton
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Blatant Cronyism in Newly Released Clinton Emails

August 10, 2016

Blatant Cronyism in Newly Released Clinton Emails, PJ Media, Debra Heine, August 10, 2016

hill talksKevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP, File

On Tuesday, Judicial Watch released 296 pages of Hillary Clinton’s email records as part of its lawsuit against the State Department. Within the release are 44 government email exchanges that had not previously been turned over to the State Department, falsifying Clinton’s oft-repeated claim that she had turned over all of her government emails.

The messages were found during a search of agency computer files of long-time Clinton aide Huma Abedin. They reveal that while in office — and in violation of ethics agreements she agreed to when she was appointed secretary of State — Hillary Clinton interacted with lobbyists, political and Clinton Foundation donors, and business interests:

The new documents reveal that in April 2009 controversial Clinton Foundation official Doug Band pushed for a job for an associate. In the email Band tells Hillary Clinton’s former aides at the State Department Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin that it is “important to take care of [Redacted]. Band is reassured by Abedin that “Personnel has been sending him options.” Band was co-founder of Teneo Strategy with Bill Clinton and a top official of the Clinton Foundation, including its Clinton Global Initiative.Included in the new document production is a 2009 email in which Band directs Abedin and Mills to put Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire and Clinton Foundation donor Gilbert Chagoury in touch with the State Department’s “substance person” on Lebanon. Band notes that Chagoury is “key guy there [Lebanon] and to us,” and insists that Abedin call Amb. Jeffrey Feltman to connect him to Chagoury.

As a close friend of Bill’s and a top donor to the Clinton foundation, Chagoury was indeed a “key guy” to the Clintons:

He has appeared near the top of the Foundation’s donor list as a $1 million to $5 million contributor, according to foundation documents. He also pledged $1 billion to the Clinton Global Initiative. According to a 2010 investigation by PBS Frontline, Chagoury was convicted in 2000 in Switzerland for laundering money from Nigeria, but agreed to a plea deal and repaid $66 million to the Nigerian government.

These types of interactions with the Clinton Foundation appear to be in violation of the ethics agreements Hillary Clinton agreed to prior to being appointed and confirmed as secretary of State. On January 5, 2009, for example, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton wrote in a letter to State Department Designated Agency Ethics Official James H. Thessin:

“For the duration of my appointment as Secretary if I am confirmed, I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which The William J. Clinton Foundation (or the Clinton Global Initiative) is a party or represents a party … ”

According to the Capital Research Center, while Clinton served as secretary of State, foreigndonors to the Clinton Foundation made up one-third of all donors giving more than $1 million, and made up more than half of donors who gave $5 million or more:

Before Obama even took office, the Clinton Foundation’s chairman of the board, Bruce Lindsey, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Dec. 12, 2008 with Valerie Jarrett, then co-chair of President-elect Obama’s transition team. The document provided that “During any service by Senator Clinton as Secretary of State, the Foundation will publish annually the names of all new contributors.” We now know that the foundation cast aside its promise to make timely disclosure of donations it took in from foreign sources.And in recent days Reuters discovered that the Clinton Foundation filed incorrect Form 990 disclosures with the IRS. All nonprofits have to file the document once a year, after which it becomes publicly available. As a result of Reuters reporting, the Clinton Foundation admitted that its IRS filings from 2010 through 2012 and those of its Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) from 2012 and 2013 are not accurate. The foundation does not rule out the possibility of revisiting its IRS filings going back 15 years.

According to Reuters, “[f]or three years in a row beginning in 2010, the Clinton Foundation reported to the IRS that it received zero in funds from foreign and U.S. governments, a dramatic fall-off from the tens of millions of dollars in foreign government contributions reported in preceding years.”

Rather than condemn Clinton’s egregious violation of her agreement with the Obama administration, President Obama has fulsomely endorsed her and campaigned on her behalf.

The blatant cronyism on display in the newly released emails helps explain why Clinton might want to keep them under wraps, as revealed in another email exchange.

In another email chain, then Sec. of State Clinton received advice from another large Clinton donor:

As preparation for Hillary’s upcoming visit to Asia, Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, on Feb. 11, 2009, sends Hillary a copy of his upcoming testimonybefore Congress in which he would condemn any U.S. efforts to criticize Chinese monetary policy or enact trade barriers. Several days later, Hillary asked Abedin about Roach possibly “connecting” with her while she was in Beijing: “I forwarded you my email to him about connecting in Beijing. Can he come to the embassy or other event?” Morgan Stanley is a long-time financial supporter of the Clintons….

The emails reveal that Clinton campaign adviser and pollster Mark Penn advised Clinton on NATO and piracy. Another major Clinton fundraiser, Lana Moresky, also pushed Clinton to hire someone for a position at State. Clinton directed Abedin to follow up and “help” the applicant and told Abedin to “let me know” about the job issue.

The emails show that Hillary Clinton relied on someone named “Justin” (presumably Justin Cooper, a Bill Clinton and Clinton Foundation employee), to set up her cell phone voicemail, rather than having State Department personnel handle it. This was in a February 11, 2009, email from Clinton aide Lauren Jiloty to Clinton, using Clinton’shdr22@clintonmail.com address.

This is the ninth set of records produced for Judicial Watch by the State Department from the non-state.gov email accounts of Huma Abedin.

“No wonder Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin hid emails from the American people, the courts and Congress,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “They show the Clinton Foundation, Clinton donors, and operatives worked with Hillary Clinton in potential violation of the law.”

Fitton appeared on Fox and Friends this morning to talk about the newly disclosed messages.

“The State Department got these emails last year, and they’ve shown repeatedly that we’re getting these batches of emails that include emails Mrs. Clinton never turned over to the State Department, despite her promises to Congress and despite telling a court under oath under penalty of perjury that as far as she knew, everything was turned over,” Fitton said. “Obviously that’s not the case.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QZI4Igt9EA

The film Clinton Cash, based on author Peter Schweizer’s book of the same name, exposes the suspicious patterns behind Bill Clinton’s astronomically high speaking fees and donations to the Clinton Foundation from foreign contributors while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of State. The entire movie can be watched here.

Categories: Clinton Cash film, Clinton e-mails, Clinton Foundation, Corruption, Department of State, Huma Abedin, Obama's America
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UN aid worker in Gaza accused of helping Hamas

August 9, 2016

UN aid worker in Gaza accused of helping Hamas, Israel Hayom, Lilach Shoval and Daniel Siryoti, August 9, 2016

U.N. Development Program aid worker Wahid Abdullah Burash accused of using his position to help Hamas operatives hide weapons and tunnels, and preferring projects that benefit Hamas • Burash is second aid worker to be charged with assisting Hamas in span of a week.

helper

For the second time in one week, an international aid worker in the Gaza Strip has been accused of providing assistance to terrorist organization Hamas.

The Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police lifted a gag order Tuesday, revealing that a United Nations aid worker from Jabalia, 38-year-old Wahid Abdullah Burash, was arrested last month on suspicion that he was using his job at the U.N. Development Program to assist in Hamas operations. An indictment was filed against Burash at the Beersheba District Court, charging him with aiding the Gazan terrorist group.

The announcement comes less than a week after World Vision employee Mohammad Halabi was accused of funneling some $50 million in charity funds to Hamas.

The UNDP works to rehabilitate and develop infrastructure, including damaged homes, in the Gaza Strip to improve the lives of local residents. Burash has worked as an engineer at the program since 2003. As part of his work, he was responsible for demolishing homes damaged in military clashes and removing waste from the demolition sites.

The Shin Bet investigation revealed that in 2014, Burash was instructed by a senior Hamas official to carry out his work in a manner that would provide maximum benefit for Hamas. In 2015, he used UNDP resources to build a marine dock for the use of Hamas’ military wing in northern Gaza.

It was further revealed that throughout 2015, Burash, acting on Hamas orders, worked with his superiors to give preference to rehabilitation projects in areas where Hamas operatives live.

The investigation also found that Hamas deliberately exploited UNDP projects throughout 2015. Weapons and terror tunnel shafts were found in homes that had been rebuilt by the UNDP and taken over by Hamas. This violates U.N. protocol, according to which all explosives and weapons must be reported to the United Nations Mine Action Service.

Investigators learned that other Hamas operatives are embedded in a variety of humanitarian aid organizations in Gaza. Burash also revealed information about Hamas storehouses, outposts and tunnels that he had learned about in his work.

Hamas vehemently denied the charges brought against Burash. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said, “The accusations are baseless and false, and they are part of the Zionist occupation’s attempt to worsen the siege on Gaza by persecuting international aid organizations.”

Categories: Corruption, Gaza, Hamas, UN Development Program
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The truth about humanitarian aid

August 7, 2016

The truth about humanitarian aid, Israel Hayom, Ariel Bolstein, August 7, 2016

The reports surrounding the arrest of Mohammad Halabi, director of the Gaza branch of the humanitarian organization World Vision, have sent shockwaves throughout the globe. This is a well-known, worldwide charity organization — one of the world’s largest in fact — that purports to help third world children.

As it turns out, when it comes to the Gaza Strip, the money donated by charitable individuals in Europe, Australia and the U.S. went mainly to help Hamas’ military wing. Among other things, the money was used toward purchasing weapons in Sinai, digging attack tunnels and paying the salaries of terrorists and their families.

The Hamas murderers did not stop there. They accepted thousands of food packages as well as other supplies intended for the poor. When devout Christian worshippers in churches across the U.S. donated a dollar or two to “those poor children,” the smiling faces on the receiving end were Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

More than half of the organization’s annual aid budget was funneled directly to Hamas. In total , the terror organization received between 40-50 million dollars and this may just be the tip of the iceberg, as there are other humanitarian groups that have poured tremendous amounts of money into these black holes referred to at times as “rehabilitation of Gaza” and “assistance to the Palestinians.”

For years, World Vision members, including senior officials, contributed to anti-Israel efforts. Time and again they have taken advantage of every possible forum to portray Israel as the culprit behind the suffering of Palestinian children. Never ones to be confused by the facts, they neglected to mention that they knew very well that Hamas was using the civilian population of Gaza as human shields, launching rockets at Israel from residential neighborhoods and storing weapons at schools.

Not a word of condemnation for Hamas was ever heard. But with respect to Israel, it has been a festival of lies and false accusations. In 2012, for example, the president of World Vision in the U.S. claimed that Israel had prohibited Christian from Judea and Samaria as well as Gaza from celebrating Easter in Jerusalem. The allegation was completely false (that year Israel granted more than 20,000 permits to travel to Jerusalem for Easter, far more than were requested). Still, the irreparable damage to Israel’s reputation in the eyes of the Christian world was done.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, World Vision has contributed extensively to other anti-Israel endeavors in the years since. For instance, the organization bankrolled a program called “Christ at the Checkpoint,” which aimed to portray Israel to American Christians as the embodiment of all evil. The program appealed to this audience’s most basic emotions: they were asked to imagine Jesus himself being harassed by Israeli soldiers at a border checkpoint. This was, in fact, anti-Semitism of the worst order, playing into the idea that the Jews abused the son of God and now they are abusing other poor souls.

In fact, a large portion of the funding that goes into the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement actually comes from innocent donors, who are certain their donations are going toward saving lives in developing countries somewhere in Asia or Africa.

Sadly, World Vision is not the only charity organization that has been dragged into the anti-Israel efforts. Other organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have also fallen into the same trap.

All this is happening in a world where there are tens of millions of people who really need charitable assistance, with tens of millions of people in the West who are willing to donate generously to help worthy causes, or so they believe. These kind, naïve donors, are being taken advantage of every day in the most awful of ways.

Categories: "Humanitarian aid", BDS, Corruption, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Palestinian children, Palestinian terrorists
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