Why Bill Clinton Can't Be Trusted in Foggy Bottom

Amanda Carpenter | November 17, 2008 9:15 AM

The New York Times has a story up today about how President-elect Obama is vetting Bill Clinton's post-White House activities for potential conflicts of interest in appointing Hillary as Secretary of State.

I saw this as a huge problem back in 2006, when I was writing my book on Hillary Clinton. In fact, the first chapter is devoted to the foreign money Mr. Clinton had been earning and how it could have been used to fund Hillary's presidential bid. (All he has to do is dump the foreign cash into a personal, joint bank account with his wife and then it becomes hers to do whatever she wants with, even though US election law forbids foreign cash from funding our races.)

She's not running for president anymore, but the problem still exists. It's nice to finally see some interest in the problems Mr. Clinton poses on this front.

Here's a list of red flags raised in the article:

-HAS BEEN PAID MILLIONS IN FEES FROM FOREIGN SOURCES: Mr. Clinton has "accepted millions of dollars from foreign officials and businesses without disclosing many details. Since its formation in 1998, Mr. Clinton’s foundation has raised more than $500 million, allowing him to build a state-of-the-art presidential library while burnishing an image as a philanthropic giant. He is not required by law to identify the donors and has steadfastly refused to do so."

-ACCEPTED MONEY GIFTS FROM SAUDIS, UAE: "Among the known Clinton Foundation donors are the Saudi royal family, the king of Morocco, a foundation linked to the United Arab Emirates, the governments of Kuwait and Qatar, and a tycoon who was the son-in-law of Ukraine’s ousted authoritarian president."

-POSSIBLE URANIUM DEAL BROKERING: "Mr. Clinton and Mr. Giustra shared a midnight banquet in September 2005 with Kazakhstan’s authoritarian president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev. Mr. Clinton praised Mr. Nazarbayev’s bid to head an international election-monitoring organization, undercutting American foreign policy and his wife’s sharp criticism of Kazakhstan’s human rights record. Two days after the trip, Mr. Giustra’s company signed preliminary agreements giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan. Spokesmen for both men said there was no connection between the trip and the deal. Months later, a foundation controlled by Mr. Giustra gave $31.3 million to the Clinton foundation, its largest known donation."