Clinton Foundation to stop taking foreign donations if Hillary Clinton is president

The family renamed their foundation the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation in 2013, although Hillary Clinton stepped down from her board position a year ago after announcing her presidential bid.

The foundation also said it would stop hosting its annual Clinton Global Initiative, a meeting of worldwide leaders, CEOs, philanthropic groups and intellectuals held each year.

Former President Bill Clinton told foundation staffers that the organization would not accept those donations should the former first lady be elected to the White House, The Associated Press reports. The move was meant to quiet suspicions about foreign donors during Hillary’s time as secretary of state and make it clear that the same questionable dealings won’t go down the next time she’s in public office. On its website the Clinton Foundation claims to “operate programs around the world that have a significant impact in a wide range of issue areas, including economic development, climate change, health and wellness, and participation of girls and women“.

For years the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation thrived largely on the generosity of foreign donors and individuals who gave hundreds of millions of dollars to the global charity. The Clinton campaign said its rivals had mischaracterized the exchange and that Clinton never took action because of donations to the foundation. Money accepted from countries such as Saudi Arabia drew scrutiny from both Republicans and Democrats early in Clinton’s presidential bid.

Similarly, a Canadian offshoot of the foundation, the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (Canada), or CGEP, will not be bound by the foundation’s donor limits, but said it will instead become an “independent entity” if Hillary Clinton becomes president.

“Is it ok to accept foreign and corporate money when Secretary of State but not when POTUS???” “I don’t think you heard these questions when members of the Bush family continued to serve on boards for President Bush’s foundation”.

The new policy was devised by Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton, and approved at a foundation board meeting Thursday, according to a foundation official. Based on her record, it is safe to suggest this new promise as a reaction to recent Clinton Foundation revelations and sharp criticism from the editorial board of a major newspaper publication, is virtually meaningless.

The left-leaning columnist Jonathan Chait wrote on the website of NY magazine Friday that the new policy is an “inadequate response to the conflicts of interest inherent in the Clinton Foundation” and demonstrates that Clinton “has not fully grasped the severity of her reputational problem”. He said he was hopeful that his organization could continue CGI University, an annual meeting of students held on a college campus in the spring. “The Clinton Foundation is a professionally structured money-laundering operation'”.

At least two other Clinton related charities also aren’t immediately impacted by Thursday’s decision to limit donations. “It’d be impossible to keep the foundation open without at least the appearance of a problem”.

Bill Clinton said that similar meetings like the Clinton Global Initiative America and CGI International will end with next month’s meeting.