Judicial Watch: New Documents Show Clinton Conflicts of Interest

Unsigned Memo Contains ‘Private Sector Opportunities’ for Bill Clinton in Haiti 

Memo from Clinton Foundation to State Department Lists nearly 200 Then-Current and Former Heads of State to be Invited to 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting 

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced that it has received 508 pages of documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking information about possible conflicts of interest between the actions taken by Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and Bill Clinton’s activities.  More than 440 pages of the documents were redacted either in full, or with only minor notations remaining.  The documents were released as a result of a federal court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the State Department on May 28, 2013, (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:13-cv-00772)).

The documents included an undated, unsigned memo entitled “Private Sector Opportunities for WJC” [William Jefferson Clinton]. The memo provided capabilities analysis of three companies with major investment interests in Haiti: Tetra Pak, Seaboard, and Cemex.

The documents also include a lengthy March 2009 email from Clinton Foundation Director of Foreign Policy Amitabh Desai to former Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro and subsequently forwarded to top Clinton aide Jake Sullivan containing the names of nearly 200 then-current and former heads of state to be invited to the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting. The list includes dignitaries from Saudi Arabia, which gave $14.5 million to the Clinton Foundation; Kuwait, which gave between $5 and $10 million; Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar – all of which donated between $1 and $5 million over the years.  In February 2015, the Washington Post reported, “A third of foundation donors who have given more than $1 million are foreign governments or other entities … and foreign donors make up more than half of those who have given more than $5 million.”

In July 2014, Judicial Watch released more than 200 conflict-of-interest reviews by State Department ethics advisers of proposed Bill Clinton speaking and consulting engagements during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. The documents show that Mr. Clinton’s office proposed 215 speeches around the globe. And 215 times, the State Department stated that it had “no objection.” The Washington Examiner published a report by Judicial Watch Chief Investigative Reporter Micah Morrison and Examiner Senior Watchdog Reporter Luke Rosiak which notes that Mr. Clinton “earned $48 million while his wife presided over U.S. foreign policy, raising questions about whether the Clintons fulfilled ethics agreements related to the Clinton Foundation during Mrs. Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State.”

“It is a scandal that the Obama administration stalled the release of these smoking gun documents for over five years,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “These documents show that Hillary and Bill Clinton’s machine sought to shake down almost every country in the world, from Saudi Arabia to desperately poor Haiti.  President-elect Trump can’t move fast enough to launch a serious criminal investigation of the Clinton cash machine.”

The full history of this case can be found here.

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