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If Clinton wins, foundation says it won’t take foreign money

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

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The Clinton Foundation has been a major source of ammunition for Clinton’s opponents throughout the election, and Trump in particular has been relentless about insinuating the Clintons used donations from foreign sources and quid pro quo arrangements while Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state, to line their own pockets. The Clinton campaign said its rivals had mischaracterized the exchange and that Clinton never took action because of donations to the foundation.

Emails released this month by the conservative watchdog organization Judicial Watch also appeared to raise questions of a connection between the foundation and the State Department.

It will no longer take money from any foreign entity, government, foreign or domestic corporations, or corporate charities.

Though the CHAI organization is by far the largest piece of the Clinton’s network, it maintains a much lower profile and has a history of failing to follow the rules set up by the related Clinton Foundation to avoid conflicts of interest while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.

CGEP, which says Canadian law prevents it from disclosing its donors’ names without their permission, was founded by Bill Clinton, the former USA president, and Canadian businessman Frank Giustra in 2007 to improve work opportunities for people in poor countries.

Bill Clinton told foundation staff about the decision at a meeting, according to Clinton Foundation spokesman Craig Minassian. If his wife becomes President, he says the Super PAC masquerading as a charity won’t accept foreign or corporate contributions. Bowing to pressure in April 2015, the group announced that it would restrict donations to only six Western nations and disclose its donors more frequently.

But a 2009 incident, which alarmed critics, involved a chief adviser to Clinton trying to arrange a meeting between a senior American government official and Clinton Foundation donor Gilbert Chagoury, a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist. He was pushing for more transparency than what was ultimately agreed upon between the foundation and the Obama transition team.

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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. The foundation has estimated that commitments by its members have improved the lives of more than 430 million people in more than 180 countries. As a means to obscure its list of donors, the foundation has created branches of initiatives, such as the Clinton Global Initiative, and a Canadian affiliate, the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivers opening remarks during a meeting with law enforcement officials at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice