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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: combjelly who wrote (966072)9/21/2016 1:02:20 AM
From: Broken_Clock  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1574786
 
sure CJ…lol. how gullible. If anything the Foundation is getting a pass.
+++

"On a related note, earlier this year Reuters reported that the foundation had failed to include funds received from the United States government and other foreign countries on their tax returns for three years running."

Hillary Exposed! Clinton Foundation Tax Records Raise Questions About Spending — $8M In Travel Costs Alone!
By Jen Heger - Assistant Managing Editor
Posted on Jul 8, 2015 @ 3:56AM



As Hillary Clinton ramps up her race to the White House, she is facing a growing wave of criticism behind the scenes about whether her charity, the Clinton Foundation, is properly using donations. Tax records obtained by RadarOnline.com reveal, for example, that the organization spent nearly as much on travel expenses as on grants!

The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, generated $144,382,361 in revenue in 2013, according to IRS tax returns reviewed by RadarOnline.com, but only paid out $8,865,052 million, roughly 5% of their revenue, in grants.

At the same time, travel expenses totaled $8,448,502 million, with supplemental information stating “The Board recognizes that, due to extraordinary security and other requirements, William J. Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton may require the need to travel by charter or in first class, the determination of which will be made on a case-by-case basis.”

Salaries of executives also increased from $18,438,574 total in 2012 to $29,914,108 total in 2013. With just 402 employees, that means the average salary is $74,413, well above the national average of $50,500. Specifically, then-Director of Marketing Frederic Poust brought in a whopping $464,229 in salary for 2013, with the CFO, CEO, Executive Director and other senior staff making well into the six figures.

In addition, the foundation bled cash for its swanky fundraising events. One London gala only generated $364,151 in gross income, on $15,197,538 in gross receipts. Net income from the fundraising events was in the red for $859,030.

And conferences sponsored by the foundation cost $9,224,775. Three conference production companies were paid $2 million in services, $626,059 to a web design company, and $448,750 to the Community Counseling Service Company for endowment plan development.

A spokesperson for the foundation told Radar, “The Clinton Foundation is an operating foundation. The money raised by the Foundation is spent directly on our programs, and not as grants to other charitable organizations.”

The majority of the Clinton Foundation’s charitable work is performed and implemented by our staff and partners on the ground. We 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.”

And while the foundation’s program expenses are in line with industry standards, the foundation continues to be slammed with outside criticism.

This spring, the foundation was placed on Charity Navigator’s Watch List. “The organization doesn’t meet our criteria,” the site noted. While the post explained that it was not necessarily a condemnation of their practices, they cited concerns about potential conflict of interest, inflated salaries, and the possibility of a pending audit.

On a related note, earlier this year Reuters reported that the foundation had failed to include funds received from the United States government and other foreign countries on their tax returns for three years running.

“Those entries were errors, according to the foundation ,” the outlet reported. “Several foreign governments continued to give tens of millions of dollars toward the foundation’s work on climate change and economic development through this three-year period. Those governments were identified on the foundation’s annually updated donor list, along with broad indications of how much each had cumulatively given since they began donating.”

A rep for the foundation told Radar Tuesday that no returns have been refiled yet.

Back in 2013, the New York Times, published a similarly critical report, which stated that the Foundation “had become a sprawling concern, supervised by a rotating board of old Clinton hands, vulnerable to distraction and threatened by conflicts of interest. It ran multimillion-dollar deficits for several years, despite vast amounts of money flowing in.”

Indeed, during Secretary Clinton’s presidential run in 2007 and 2008, the foundation incurred a $40 million deficit.

The organization changed its name from the Clinton Global Initiative to the Bill, Hillary, & Chelsea Clinton Foundation in 2013, as the former First Lady moved into New York headquarters.

After Hillary Clinton announced her 2016 presidential bid, the foundation announced it would continue to accept funding from six foreign countries that are currently working with the charity.



To: combjelly who wrote (966072)9/21/2016 1:15:35 AM
From: Broken_Clock  Respond to of 1574786
 
It's called bribery CJ
========

Clinton gave State Department appointments to 194 donors

By SARAH WESTWOOD ( @SARAHCWESTWOOD) 9/20/16 8:22 AM

washingtonexaminer.com

Hillary Clinton placed dozens of her donors on State Department advisory boards between 2009 and 2012, federal records show.

The former secretary of state's agency appointed 194 donors who had given either to her family's foundation, her political campaigns, or both, or were affiliated with groups that had.

Those donors represented nearly 40 percent of the 511 advisory appointments the State Department made during Clinton's tenure.

The donor appointments do not provide evidence of any illegal activity, nor are they unprecedented in an administration.

In fact, presidents and cabinet secretaries from both parties have long rewarded friends and contributors with high-level appointments.

But Clinton has faced fierce criticism for granting access to donors to her family's foundation while she served as secretary of state. The large number of donors who landed positions on State Department boards raises questions about whether Clinton's preferential treatment of foundation and campaign contributors went beyond providing them access.

Some of the donors who received appointments to State Department boards were well equipped to serve in their advisory roles.

For example, Clinton's agency named executives from UPS and FedEx — two firms that have given generously to the Clinton Foundation — to its postal and delivery advisory board in 2010. Few would question the wisdom of such appointments, regardless of the checks those companies have written to the foundation.

Other donors secured positions for which they seemed ill qualified. Some were closely connected to Clinton's political past.

For example, Clinton's State Department gave a board appointment to Kaki Hockersmith of the Arkansas Governors Mansion Association in Jan. 2010.

Hockersmith was named to the United States National Commission on UNESCO, a panel that "supports worldwide humanitarian development and values," according to the State Department.

Hockersmith is a longtime Clinton supporter and friend, with ties to the family that stretch back to their Arkansas days. An interior designer from Little Rock, Ark., Hockersmith was tapped to decoratethe White House when Clinton's husband won the presidency.

More recently, Hockersmith bundled at least $100,000 in contributions for Clinton's failed 2008 campaign, according to Public Citizen.

Betsy Cohn, another six-figure 2008 bundler, also secured a position on the UNESCO board in 2010.

Cohn is a longtime Clinton donor whose financial support earned her a stay at the White House in the 1990s, when the Clintons weathered fierce controversy over their practice of allowing political donors to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom.

Hockersmith had also enjoyed a night at the White House, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

Cohn's relationship with Clinton landed her a job as vice chair of finance for Clinton's Senate campaign. As a party activist, Cohn served positions in the Democratic National Committee and NARAL, a pro-abortion group that supports Clinton.

Joseph Gergela, head of the Long Island Farm Bureau, became an ally for Clinton when she served as a senator for New York. During her 2008 presidential bid, Gergela campaigned for Clinton in West Virginia and Kentucky.

The New York agriculture representative landed a position on the International Economic Policy advisory board in March 2010 at Clinton's State Department. His appointment came shortly after he and his wife each bundled more than $100,000 for the 2008 campaign.

Ken Miller, a banking executive and member of Clinton's current Asia policy team, also secured a post on the International Economic Policy board in 2010.

Miller, a former Merrill Lynch board member, became a senior adviser at Teneo Holdings during Clinton's State Department tenure. Teneo is a consulting firm whose close ties to the Clintons have invited controversy since the start of the presidential campaign, particularly for the firm's decision to hire Huma Abedin in June 2012.

Abedin collected paychecks simultaneously from Teneo, the State Department and the Clinton Foundation.

In July 2012, Miller reached out to Abedin to seek her advice on whether he should join Teneo, emails made public through the Freedom of Information Act show.

Miller has contributed to Clinton's political efforts dating back to her bid for a U.S. Senate seat in New York, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In May 2011, Clinton named Thomas McLarty to an advisory board aimed at strengthening ties between the U.S. and China.

McLarty's firm, McLarty Associates, has given up to $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation. He and his wife have personally donated up to $500,000 to the foundation.

McLarty served as chief of staff to Bill Clinton during the first year of his administration and has given generously to Clinton's political campaigns, dating back to her Senate bids.

Sara Ehrman, former deputy political director at the Democratic National Committee and a veteran of Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, landed a position on the UNESCO board in Jan. 2011.

Ehrman is currently a senior adviser at the Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace. Abraham is himself one of the most generous Clinton Foundation contributors, giving up to $10 million to the well-connected charity.

Hillary Clinton's State Department did not pack every panel under its purview with donors to her campaigns and foundation.

For example, the advisory committee on the U.S. role in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission had few contributors on its rolls.

But other boards were padded with contributors during Clinton's tenure.

The Foreign Affairs Policy Board, for instance, was filled with donors in Dec. 2011. Thirteen of the 25 appointments to that panel went to Clinton donors that year, while at least two other positions went to advisers at the Center for American Progress — a group closely connected to the Clintons.

Familiar faces who landed posts on the foreign affairs board in Dec. 2011 included John Podesta, the current chair of Clinton's presidential campaign and founder of the Center for American Progress, Strobe Talbott, head of the Brookings Institute and a close confidante of Clinton during her time as the nation's chief diplomat, and McLarty, who had already earned an appointment to a different board earlier that year.

Hillary Clinton appointed nine donors to the Secretary of State's International Council on Women's Business Leadership in Aug. 2011.

One of them was Judith Rodin of the Rockefeller Foundation, a donor to the Clinton Foundation and a client of Teneo.

Rodin's relationship to Hillary Clinton drew attention last year following the release of emails that showed a Teneo executive sought Abedin's help in securing a White House appointment for Rodin.

Documents exposed earlier this month through an illegal hack of the DNC's servers suggest officials considered political donations a factor in granting ambassadorships as well.

However, most of those donors and party activists had boosted President Obama during the 2008 and 2012 elections and therefore could have looked to his staff for the appointments. Many of the lower-level positions on State Department advisory boards would not have risen to Obama's desk.

The appointment of one donor to the international security advisory board in 2011 drew enough controversy at the time that Clinton's staff stripped him of his position within days of receiving a media inquiry about the position.

Rajiv Fernando, who has donated up to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation and bundled at least $100,000 for Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign, was named to the elite policy panel despite having little experience in the area given his career as a financial trader. Hillary Clinton's team nonetheless rushed a top secret security clearance for Fernando so he could attend meetings.

Shortly after a reporter from ABC News asked the State Department for a copy of Fernando's resume, Cheryl Mills, Clinton's chief of staff, quietly announced his resignation.

Matthew Whitaker, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said the large numbers of donors who received government positions was "not surprising."

"It appears consistent with all of the other disturbing cases where Clinton Foundation and political donors received special access and treatment," Whitaker said. "It would be highly unethical to not only give donors special access to the State Department, but actually give them a board position based upon their donor status."

The Clinton campaign did not return a request for comment.



To: combjelly who wrote (966072)9/21/2016 1:17:04 AM
From: i-node  Read Replies (4) | Respond to of 1574786
 
>> There is no evidence of this.

Of course there is. There isn't "proof" -- i.e., anything you could prove in a court of law. But there is evidence. Most importantly, the vast disparity in Bill Clinton's speaking fees before and after she became Secretary of State.

>> Trump got a benefit from this arrangement, and that isn't legal.

So, when the Clinton's received over 9 million dollars in travel benefits for Bill, Hillary and Chelsey last year, was that a "benefit?"

I'm going to tell you that I have represented charitable foundations with IRS before, and I guarantee you I would win this case if it came before IRS appeals. At most, it is self-dealing only to the extent of the fair market value of having a taller flagpole. I'm going to have a couple of expert witnesses tell the court that it is worth next to nothing. Pennies. Because it is. And that will be that.

This is a nothingburger.

But you're missing the important point here. If he chooses to address this story publicly, who is not going to roll their eyes about this? Even if there is a penalty it is administrative, not criminal.

There is nothing to see here. This is a blatant attempt of the media to find SOMETHING to point at so they can say, "Look, he did it, too." But he didn't.

Disclosure is very important in tax matters. It is a defense against just about anything that matters.