The former president spoke at the close of the final meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, an arm of the broader Clinton Foundation. 4, 2012 with the help of President Bill Clinton.
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Bill Clinton did not directly address those accusations Wednesday, but aides said he viewed his hour-long address touting CGI’s work as an implicit rebuke to critics.
“There’s not any kind of conflict between the public interest and that”, Clinton said, also reiterating that he plans to leave the Foundation’s board if his wife Hillary Clinton is elected president.
One of the former staffers called the layoffs “poorly managed” and “completely lacking empathy”. “But look back after 11 years and see what the aggregate is”, the former president said.
The Clinton Foundation’s partner on the project was one of the world’s largest fragrance and flavoring suppliers, Firmenich International SA, along with the Swiss company’s USA charity. He did not explicitly bring up how it had been injected into the 2016 campaign, but the 42nd president did hint at the criticisms. “It was the most fun thing I think I’ve ever done”. Republican Donald Trump contends the Clinton Foundation is little more than a way for his opponent to enrich her family and give donors special political access.
That easy mingling of philanthropy and politics has put the Clintons’ charity work under an election year microscope.
“The economics of it won’t work unless there are corporate sponsorships, unless we can have people from all over the world here and I learned that already in this election that some people were subject to a presumption of guilt just because they were participating”, he said.
Then, in the coming months, dozens of CGI employees are scheduled to lose their jobs at the end of 2016 – but some will get to stay, meaning more political problems for Hillary Clinton could be on their way.
‘We informed CGI staff of this transition more than four months before the end of the year, and have provided information about CGI-related roles that will continue, ‘ the spokesman said.
“Since Hillary began her presidential campaign in 2015, Chelsea and I have made it clear that the work the Clinton Foundation started should continue if Hillary is elected, but that changes would be necessary”.
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Neal Keny-Guyer, the CEO of the global humanitarian organization Mercy Corps, was among a small group of longtime CGI participants who attended a private reception with Bill Clinton on the eve of the final meetings.
