Bill Clinton: Foundation’s done nothing ‘knowingly inappropriate’

Bill Clinton says his family foundation did nothing “knowingly inappropriate” in accepting foreign donations while Hillary served as secretary of State.

{mosads}”There is no doubt in my mind that we have never done anything knowingly inappropriate in terms of taking money to influence any kind of American government policy,” he told NBC News during a trip to Nairobi. “That just hasn’t happened.”

The former president characterized criticism of the Clinton Foundation as a “very deliberate attempt to take the foundation down,” and balked at the suggestion that the foundation’s recent decision to limit its foreign donations is an acknowledgment that it made a mistake by accepting those donations.

“No, absolutely not. It is an acknowledgment that we are going to come as close as we can during her presidential campaign to following the rules she followed when she became secretary of State,” he said.

“I don’t think there is anything sinister about trying to get wealthy people and countries that are seriously involved in development to spend their money wisely in a way that helps poor people and lifts them up.”

The Clintons have faced a barrage of criticism over the foundation, largely spurred by the new book Clinton Cash by Peter Schweizer, of the right-wing Hoover Institute at Stanford. The book alleges that Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton made a number of decisions that directly benefitted foundation donors while secretary of State and questions whether those donations influenced her conduct.

Brian Fallon, Hillary Clinton’s campaign spokesman, told The Hill Friday that the book is part of a “coordinated Republican attack strategy” that attacks the foundation for partisan reasons.

Schweizer has repeatedly pushed back against those assertions and said on Fox News’s “Media Buzz” that he is concerned about the immense wealth of those on both sides of the aisle.

Many GOP White House candidates have raised the concerns about the Clinton Foundation on the trail, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has called for an investigation into the book’s allegations.

Clinton also said that he would still give speeches while his wife ran for president, undeterred by attacks on his hefty fees.

“I’ve got to pay our bills,” he said, noting that he gives 10 percent of his revenue every year to the Clinton Foundation. 

He added that he isn’t sure whether he would remain at the foundation if his wife were elected president. 

— This story was updated at 10:23 a.m.