Richard Davis, a former assistant Watergate special prosecutor who worked in the Carter administration, wrote an op-ed for CNN arguing that the Clinton Foundation’s suspicious business practices should rightfully be placed in the spotlight as Hillary Clinton seeks the Democratic presidential nomination.
The Foundation came under scrutiny earlier this year when it was reported to have received foreign contributions during her tenure as Secretary of State. Some of the controversial contributions came from Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. The organization was also found to have accepted millions of dollars in speaking fees. These are issues Clinton cannot hide from on the campaign trail – especially as voters continue to doubt her trustworthiness in the wake of her email scandal.
Clinton cannot avoid having to respond to questions about foundation activities and speaking fees while she was secretary of state. History cannot be rewritten. She can, however, meaningfully address this controversy by announcing now that if she becomes President the foundation will not do business with the United States government, and that neither the foundation nor her husband will accept fees or contributions either from foreign entities or from those doing business or seeking to do business with the government.
Such behavior, Davis argued, should not be tolerated, especially from a family seeking to enter the White House.
If fees or contributions were made to the spouse of the President of Zimbabwe or her foundation we would not tolerate it and, indeed, our government might well investigate such payments under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. We certainly should not tolerate it if such payments involve the family of the President of the United States. Hillary Clinton should act now to address this problem before it becomes a larger threat to her candidacy.
Will the Clinton Foundation be Hillary’s Achilles heel?