Report: Clinton Foundation uses ‘unseen’ transactions to sell influence

Report: Clinton Foundation uses ‘unseen’ transactions to sell influence
January 24, 2018
https://www.conservativeinstitute.org/political-corruption/clinton-uses-unseen-influence.htm?utm_source=aimtell&utm_campaign=automated_push&utm_medium=push
Report: Clinton Foundation uses ‘unseen’ transactions to sell influence
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Retired investment banker turned political commentator Charles Ortel dove deep into the seedy underbelly of the Clinton Foundation in a Tuesday report for LifeZette that uncovered shocking “false-front charity ‘initiatives'” and “unprosecuted charitable frauds” within the organization.

Led by former President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton, the Foundation has evolved into little more than a criminal enterprise by utilizing “unseen” transactions to peddle influence in government, according to Ortel.

And that’s only the beginning.

Selling Influence Under Guise of Charity
Since its founding in October 1997, the Clinton Foundation has extended its tentacles to many parts of the globe. Under the guise of charity and aid, however, the organization has been successful in receiving funds from foreign governments, politicians, and well-connected individuals in exchange for favors.

According to Ortel, “huge, unregulated transnational charities,” like the Clinton Foundation, “provide unique cover for moving money and other considerations as illegal favors.”

There are few regulations and audits of international non-profit entities, enabling donors to surreptitiously send money to those in power. These contributions are often more than what national laws pertaining to political campaigns would permit.

Ortel states:

Meanwhile, international charity also provides cover to disguise payoffs that might unlock mining and energy concessions, telecommunications and other licenses, and largesse (grants and subsidized loans, for example) from multilateral organizations, including the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, among others.

These types of frauds accelerated within the Clinton Foundation in 2002, according to Ortel, but the biggest and most successful period of the Foundation was in 2009 — the first year of President Barack Obama’s administration.

Diplomacy or Pay-To-Play?
One of the most ambitious foreign policy initiatives for the Obama administration, which featured Hillary Clinton as secretary of State, was to “reset” relations with Russia. But Ortel suggests this may not have been as innocent as it seems.

Citing records in the public domain, Ortel in his report alluded to evidence that points to influential Russians collaborating with green energy investors. This was extensively examined in the Government Accountability Institute’s (GAI) report “From Russia with Money: Hillary Clinton, the Russian Reset, and Cronyism.”

Over a two-year timespan, tensions diminished between Moscow and Washington. In 2009, the U.S. abandoned plans to offer a missile defends shield to Poland and other Eastern European nations; a year later, Russia partnered with the U.S. and China to slap new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programs.

Ortel added:

So, after a rocky start, Obama’s rapprochement with Russia seemed to bear tangible fruit. However, the real “gains” likely were occurring for political contributors who also were active investors and financiers for capital projects inside Russia, especially those involving transfers of technology.

Stellar diplomacy? Or just further proof of pay-to-play?

What Else is Being Learned Today?
Thanks to the Donald Trump administration gaining crucial confirmations for important appointments in the country’s federal law enforcement agencies, Americans are learning more about both the Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).

In July 2016, after some repeated prodding by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the Dallas office of the Internal Revenue Service launched a probe into the Foundation’s public filings. But, according to Ortel, very little happened afterwards:

Missing disclosures concerning donations from foreign governments, and other glaring discrepancies, should have been resolved and should have triggered payment of substantial fines, penalties, and interest to government treasuries long ago.

Despite calls for Congress, the FBI, and the Department of Justice to expose the Clintons, the foundation, and the CGI, including its transactions, money, and charitable initiatives, the response is slow — but not completely absent. The Washington Post reported earlier this month that insiders say the FBI has been investigating the Clinton Foundation for months, searching for evidence of pay-to-play while Clinton was Secretary of State.

That investigation effort is less heartening in light of the recent revelations of anti-Trump and pro-Clinton bias in the top levels of the FBI — but it’s still something.

The public has the right to know not only of the Clintons’ alleged transgressions, but also how the IRS conducted its work during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign. Americans are cynical of politics and government because of politicians like the Clintons and their associates who appear to live above the law, and their faith in law, order, and justice will not be renewed until someone powerful pays the price. Bill or Hillary Clinton perhaps?