(A shorter version of
this article originally appeared in the Winter 2013 issue of the Lower East
Side underground/alternative newspaper, “The Shadow”)
Bill de Blasio’s Clintongate
Scandal Connection
In an Aug. 28, 2013 article, titled “The Press Scrutinizes
the New Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation”, that was posted on the Philanthropy
website, Rick Cohen noted that “the intersection of the Clintons’ foundation
and Hillary Clinton’s presidential run has generated a spate of articles
suggesting that the renamed and expanded foundation is really now a
`pre-campaign organization’ for the campaign and is becoming `the command post
for all things Hillary. The same article also observes:
“If you were someone who wanted to get in good with someone
with a decent shot of becoming the next president, you might show up at one of
the upcoming fundraisers associated with Hillary or Chelsea, such as the
scheduled November 9th `Millennium Network’ event, with top-tier $15,000 donors
getting themselves photographed with Hillary herself…The association with a
possible future president’s name probably makes the foundation nearly
irresistible to donors….The ex-president has attracted some raised eyebrows due
to the character of occasional donors (notably Canadian mining magnate Frank
Giustra, who received some personal benefits from his association with the
former president) and questions about some of his foundation’s initiatives…
“The new foundation with Hillary on the nameplate has
garnered new scrutiny, including an in-depth article in the New
York Times co-authored by Nick Confessore and Amy Chozick. The NYT
reporters wrote about the ever-increasing size of the foundation (now with 350
employees), a constantly changing board of various Clinton intimates, $50
million in travel expenditures since 2003…and hints of conflicts of interest
concerning [Doug] Band, who has left the foundation to start a private
consulting business—not to mention Hillary Clinton’s expanding `nerve center’
of staff, which occupies two floors of the foundation’s Midtown Manhattan
offices…
“There are plenty who are plying the foundation for access
to the Clintons and their associates..The business and political overlaps show
up with Band’s company, Teneo, which seems to have employed Huma Abedin while
she was a `special government employee’ at the State Department while Hillary
Clinton was secretary…
"The investigative journalism story...is the news that it is
now officially being co-managed by the former president and the former
Secretary of State. `I think having a place such as this for a platform gives
her a great launching pad into 2016,’ former White House press secretary Robert
Gibbs told Politico. `It gives her, quite frankly, a great place with
which to create or begin to create the message she would use should she decide
to run….”
Yet as the New York City Public Advocate since 2010-whose
public office website claims to be holding both corporations and tax-exempt
“non-profit” organizations like the Clinton Foundation/Clinton Global
Initiative accountable to the public--Bill de Blasio has apparently failed to
adequately monitor or investigate the apparently self-serving and unethical way
the Clintons have been operating their New York City-based Clinton Foundation/Clinton
Global Initiative.
But around the same time that the Clintons’ former 1996 New
York campaign director, Clinton-appointed HUD official and 2000 U.S. Senate
campaign manager began his term as the New York City Public Advocate, the Washington
Post observed in a Jan. 2, 2010 article:
“Some foreign governments…had been multimillion-dollar donors in the past, including
“Also among the 19,047 donors from last year are Slim-Fast founder and billionaire Democratic donor S. Daniel Abraham, who has given the Clinton Foundation $5 million to $10 million; Canadian mining tycoon Frank Giustra, who has given more than $25 million; and Scottish financier Sir Tom Hunter, whose foundation has donated $10 million to $25 million. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also gave money in 2009 and ranks among the top donors, having given more than $25 million...Some…Clinton Foundation supporters did not give money last year, including Hollywood magnate Stephen Bing and upstate New York businessman Tom Golisano, each of whose past donations total $10 million to $25 million. Citigroup, the banking firm that has received federal bailout money, is a past supporter…Richard Scaife, a conservative media baron… has given the Clinton Foundation $100,001 to $250,000…
“The foundation…financed the construction of
In a Sept. 22, 2013 article in The New Republic, titled “Scandal at Clinton Inc.,” Alec MacGillis also wrote the following in reference to the tax-exempt Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative “philanthropies” and their apparent connection to the for-profit Teneo consulting firm of Clinton Global Initiative Advisory Board member Doug Band:
“Bill Clinton now leads a sprawling philanthropic empire like no other…It has formed partnerships with multinationals and wealthy individuals… In July 2001, the former president had established the William J. Clinton Foundation....In 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) was born.
“CGI is not a traditional charity…It is a series of collaborations with corporations or individuals…CGI was the perfect vehicle for
“Teneo has its headquarters on the forty-fifth floor of the former Citigroup Center tower in Midtown and employs more than 200 people in 13 cities…It describes its raison d’être as `integrated counsel for a borderless world,’ offering investment banking, restructuring advice, and `business intelligence’” on dealing with `global disruptors.’… From the beginning, Teneo resembled an outpost of Clintonland more than an independent entity. Clinton and Blair came on as paid advisers…. Nancy Hernreich Bowen, director of Oval Office operations under
(end of part 12)
