Clinton Foundation: Oh, THAT Foreign Money…
Refiling six years of tax returns and calling it “transparency.”
The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation has refiled six years’ worth of amended tax returns to more properly account for revenue sources for the “charity.” Much of that revenue just happened to come from foreign governments — while Hillary was secretary of state.
The returns include tax years 2010 through 2013 for the Foundation and tax years 2012 and 2013 for the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Foundation president and longtime Clintonista Donna Shalala said that the organization was under no legal obligation to refile the forms but was motivated instead by the desire to be transparent. (They keep using that word…)
“There is no change in our bottom line numbers: assets, liabilities, and net assets,” Shalala wrote in a statement. “There is nothing to suggest that the Foundation intended to conceal the receipt of government grants, which we report on our website.”
There is also nothing to suggest that Shalala or the Foundation is telling the truth. The fact that these amended returns come during a period of intense scrutiny of Hillary Clinton’s White House run cannot be coincidence. Neither can it be mere chance that the years in question coincide with her term as secretary of state.
We’ve reported previously about the mounting evidence that the Clinton Foundation was set up mainly as a means of greasing the skids for Clinton’s inevitable White House run. We also explored how the Foundation continued to do business with countries that were simultaneously working with the State Department while Clinton was secretary.
Neither the State Department nor the Clinton Foundation found any conflict of interest or any impropriety in the arrangement after independent internal reviews. Well, isn’t that a load off our collective minds? Both organizations absolved themselves of any wrongdoing and we were expected to go on with our lives without any further questions.
This news about the amended returns brings the focus back to the Foundation just as the email server scandal temporarily slips off the front page. But the Clinton spin machine is in high gear right now, tossing out the “transparency” card to make the organization seem above board.
The returns that had been filed probably never would have been refiled had Reuters not reported on errors it discovered in the forms earlier this year. The only reason the Clintons are being “transparent” now is because they got caught. Again.
Meanwhile, the review of the tax returns was made by a law firm with strong Clinton ties. How much more transparent can they be?
The lawyer who conducted the review is Kathy Keneally, an attorney with DLA Piper, an international law firm in 30 countries. She worked for two years in Barack Obama’s Department of Justice. According to public record, DLA Piper has given somewhere between $50,001 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation.
The firm contributed $496,700 to Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and another $700,530 to her two Senate campaigns. Employees have already contributed $171,200 to her 2016 run. Not exactly what would normally be considered an unbiased third-party review. Oh yeah, and two registered lobbyists from DLA Piper are bundlers for Clinton’s campaign.
Keneally, like Shalala, said that no discrepancies were found. How convenient. However, if there were no discrepancies, then why did the returns have to be amended and refiled? The answer is because the Clintons don’t need this kind of trouble when primary season kicks in.
Bernie Sanders has already turned out to be more trouble than he’s worth by going after Clinton’s Wall Street connections. She didn’t do herself any favors by claiming the massive contributions she received from investment firms were because she was there to help them “rebuild” after Sept. 11, 2001. Never mind the load of cash she netted from Wall Street before 9/11.
Hillary Clinton has no shame. This is well documented. It’s also well documented that the Clinton Foundation is raking in the bucks. It finished 2014 with $354 million against $22 million in liabilities — the strongest financial position the organization has held in its history. Remember when Hillary complained about being “dead broke”? Good times.
Obviously, Clinton will do whatever it takes to continue greasing the wheels that will transport her to the White House. The Clinton Foundation is the prime conduit.