WASHINGTON -- The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation will take steps to manage contributions from foreign governments and other entities if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seeks the presidency in 2016, it said Thursday, after taking criticism over the issue from Republicans.
Clintons
"Should Secretary Clinton decide to run for office, we will continue to ensure the foundation's policies and practices regarding support from international partners are appropriate, just as we did when she served as secretary of state," the foundation said in a statement.
The foundation stopped accepting most foreign government contributions in 2009 when Clinton joined President Barack Obama's administration, but that ban ended when she left office and became more engaged with the foundation.
The foundation has been building a $250 million endowment, in part to prepare for the fundraising restrictions that would come with another Clinton in the White House.
"Like other global charities, the Clinton Foundation receives support from individuals, organizations and governments from all over the world," the foundation said, defending its collection of foreign cash. "Contributions are made because the foundation's programs improve the lives of millions of people around the globe."
It has a "record of transparency that goes above what is required of U.S. charities," including voluntarily disclosing donors on its website. Those disclosures drew attention this week.
The United Arab Emirates gave between $1 million and $5 million last year, while the German government gave as much as $250,000. A Canadian agency advocating for the Keystone XL pipeline, the Qatari committee working on the 2022 World Cup and Saudi Arabia have also given to the foundation since Hillary Clinton's early-2013 departure from the State Department.
In all, the foundation has raised close to $2 billion since Bill Clinton left the presidency, according to a Washington Post analysis, and took in $262 million in 2013 alone.
Foreign citizens and governments can't give to U.S. political campaigns, but they have been able to give to the Clintons through the foundation, raising questions about inappropriate influence peddling ahead of Hillary Clinton's likely presidential campaign.
America Rising, a conservative super-political action committee that has spent much of its energy countering Clinton, called Wednesday for the foundation to return foreign contributions.
A Section on 02/20/2015