The Clinton Foundation will stop accepting all foreign donations and former President Bill Clinton will step down from running the charitable organization if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, the group said.
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At the staff meeting, Clinton said he and his daughter did not face any external pressure to make the changes, but wanted to avoid any potential issues or second guessing for Hillary Clinton should she move into the White House.
The Clinton Foundation has accepted large contributions from foreign dictatorships and corporations which have never shown any other interest in supporting the charitable causes the foundation cites as its focus.
Amid criticism of cronyism from Republicans, the changes aimed to address how the Clinton Foundation would function in the event of another Clinton presidency and push back against Donald Trump’s critique that the sprawling foundation had created conflict of interests and allowed foreign governments to peddle influence with Hillary Clinton. Now, the Republican nominee often criticizes Clinton for what he says is her lack of transparency involving the foundation.
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. I have done that and believe it or not, I regret it, ” said Trump.
“They’re low-class grifters and gifters at every turn, whether it’s the money they make giving speeches, whether it’s the pay-for-play at the State Department“, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said.
“It is the right thing to do going forward”, King told CNN.
Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative’s 2015 Winter Meeting in NY. Yesterday afternoon, the Clinton Foundation promised not to accept foreign or corporate donations if Hillary Clinton wins the presidential election. More than half of Democrats (52 percent) said the foundation was mostly charitable, while six in 10 Republicans and nearly four in 10 independents (38 percent) view it as a political organization aimed to boost the Clintons.
Former President Bill Clinton turned 70 on Friday, August 19, 2016 and his daughter, Chelsea Clinton, shared a picture of the present that his 1-year-old granddaughter, Charlotte Mezvinsky, got for her “Poppop”. Ahead of celebrating his 70th birthday on Friday, Clinton said he would resign from the board and would only accept contributions from USA citizens and independent charities if his wife was elected president.
The family’s critics have specifically targeted the donations the foundation has taken from foreign entities, saying those contributions might have influenced Clinton’s decisions during her tenure as secretary of state in the Obama administration.
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The organization continues to defend its philanthropic mission.
