Clinton Foundation–State Department controversy

During Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, a number of individuals, organizations, and countries contributed to the Clinton Foundation either prior to, or while, pursuing interests with the U.S. State Department. The nature of the ties between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department have been the subject of controversy.

The disclosure of interactions between officials at the Clinton Foundation and top aides of Clinton among emails from Clinton’s private email server has furthered the controversy regarding the ties between the organizations and raised allegations that government access was traded for money during Clinton’s time at the State Department. Clinton has denied these allegations and there has been no direct evidence that government favors were exchanged for money.

Foreign governments

Prior to assuming the role of Secretary of State, Clinton signed an agreement with the Obama administration which restricted the Clinton Foundation from accepting new donations from foreign governments during her tenure. This was intended to mitigate the potential for inappropriate influence of the State Department by foreign governments. The agreement permitted donations from governments who had contributed to the Foundation in the past, but prohibited contributions from governments that had not previously donated.

In February 2015, the Washington Post reported that during Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, the Clinton Foundation accepted several million dollars in donations from seven foreign governments, including a donation from one government in violation of Clinton’s agreement with the administration. In 2010, the Foundation had accepted $500,000 from Algeria. The Foundation indicated that the donation was to contribute to relief efforts in Haiti. The Post noted that the donation "coincided with a spike" in lobbying efforts by Algeria of the State Department regarding their human rights record.

Uranium One

From 2009 to 2013, the Russian atomic energy agency (Rosatom) acquired Uranium One, a Canadian company with global uranium mining stakes including 20% of the uranium production capacity in the United States. Since uranium is considered a strategic asset with national security implications, the acquisition was analyzed by a committee of nine government agencies, including the State Department, which was then headed by Clinton. The voting members of the committee can object to such a foreign transaction, but the final decision then rests with the president. In April 2015, the New York Times reported that, during the acquisition, the family foundation of Uranium One's chairman made $2.35 million in donations to the Clinton Foundation. The donations were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite a prior agreement to do so. In addition, a Russian investment bank with ties to the Kremlin and which was promoting Uranium One stock paid Bill Clinton $500,000 for a speech in Moscow shortly after the acquisition was announced. According to Factcheck.org, there is "no evidence" that the donations influenced Clinton's official actions or that she was involved in the State Department's decision to approve the deal.

Emails between Clinton Foundation and State Department

A number of emails released by Judicial Watch in August 2016 from Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State included dialog between Doug Band, an official at the Clinton Foundation and personal aide to Bill Clinton, and top aides of Hillary Clinton. In one exchange in 2009, Band lobbied for a job at the State Department on behalf of someone else saying it was "important to take care of (redacted)." Clinton's aide, Huma Abedin, responded "Personnel has been sending him options". In another exchange, Band emailed Abedin requesting a meeting with Clinton for Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain. Band referred to the Prince as “a good friend of ours”. In 2005, the Prince had committed to contribute $32 million to scholarships through the Clinton Global Initiative. Abedin responded, offering the Prince a meeting. The Clinton campaign has denied that the State Department took any actions based on contributions to the Clinton Foundation.

Meetings with Clinton

An analysis by the Associated Press indicated that at least 85 of 154 people from private interests that Clinton met or had phone conversations with while Secretary of State donated to the Clinton Foundation. The AP stated that it represented an "extraordinary proportion indicating her possible ethics challenges if elected president". In total, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million to the Foundation. The analysis did not include Clinton’s meetings with other government officials from the U.S. and other countries, since "such meetings would presumably have been part of her diplomatic duties". Regarding the analysis, a Clinton spokesman responded “It cherry-picked a limited subset of Secretary Clinton's schedule to give a distorted portrayal of how often she crossed paths with individuals connected to charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation.”