The Clinton Foundation (founded in 1997 as the William J. Clinton Foundation),^[2] and from 2013 to 2015, briefly renamed the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation^[3]) is a nonprofit corporation under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was established by former President of the United States Bill Clinton with the stated mission to “strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.”^[4] Its offices are located in New York City and Little Rock, Arkansas.

Through 2016 the foundation had raised an estimated $2 billion from U.S. corporations, foreign governments and corporations, political donors, and various other groups and individuals.^[5] The acceptance of funds from wealthy donors has been a source of controversy.^[5][6] The foundation “has won accolades from philanthropy experts and has drawn bipartisan support”.^[5]

Charitable grants are not a major focus of the Clinton Foundation, which instead uses most of its money to carry out its own humanitarian programs.^[7]

This foundation is a public organization to which anyone may donate and is distinct from the Clinton Family Foundation, a private organization for personal Clinton family philanthropy.^[8][9]

According to the Foundation’s website, neither Bill Clinton nor his daughter, Chelsea Clinton (both are members of the governing board), draws any salary or receives any income from the Foundation. When Hillary Clinton was a board member she, too, received no income from the Foundation.^[10]

Clinton Corruption

Something strange is going on with the Clinton Foundation.

Donors to any cause have expectations.

Money does not change hands without reason.

The people, organizations and countries who make up the network of donors are not fools, and they don’t settle for failure.

Relative to the budget, the Clinton Foundation’s philanthropic successes are dismal at best.

The Clinton’s have done nothing outside of politics.

Their ability to generate wealth personally, as well as for their associates, is rooted solely in political office.

Most their massive fortune was accumulated while Hillary held positions in the US Government.

A large portion of the remainder can be linked to programs initiated during Bill Clinton’s presidency.

Hillary Clinton was a US Senator from 2001 – 2009, she served on 5 separate committees, wielding legislative power in a wide range of policies, foreign and domestic.

Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State from 2009 – 2013. The duties and responsibilities of the Secretary of State include: supervision and organization of the entire community of United States Department of State and the United States Foreign Service including the oversight of weapons transfers to foreign nations, supervision of US immigration policy, and communication of foreign policy issues to Congress and US citizens.

In other words, Hillary Clinton supervised the agency that is responsible for regulating U.S. arms exports.

From 2009 – 2013 the pattern of arms exports shifted dramatically.

State Department exports approvals substantially increased to governments that donated to the Clinton Foundation.

The U.S. government approved $40 billion in worldwide private arms sales in 2009, including more than $7 billion to Mideast and North African nations that are struggling with political upheaval, the State Department reported.

Under Clinton’s leadership (2009 – 2013), the State Department approved $165 billion worth of commercial arms sales to 20 nations whose governments have given money to the Clinton Foundation.

During Clinton’s tenure at State, the foundation operated in at least 29 countries, including places that contained rampant corruption such as Nigeria, Uganda, Ukraine, Haiti, Mozambique, China and South Africa.

In Diplomatic Cables published by Wikileaks dated December 2009, Hillary Clinton acknowledged that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan had no interest in cracking down on terror financing occurring within their respective borders.

More recently, Wikileaks published an email correspondence between John Podesta and Hillary Clinton dated August 29, 2014 in which the continuation of terror financing is acknowledged again.

The US Defense Contractors who benefitted from these deals, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and General Electric also paid millions of dollars in lobbying fees to the Podesta Group.

Within the law?

The Clintons, the Clinton Foundation, and a significant number of their close friends and direct associates are knowingly involved in numerous, separate schemes, the purposes of which are to leverage the power of political office and/or positions of bureaucratic authority to accumulate personal political and financial capital.

Investments yield return.

It can be said with 100% certainty that a considerable portion of the proceeds moving into the Clinton Foundation (and the Podesta Group), from persons and organizations, foreign and domestic, were invested (donated) with the expectation of return in some form, the value of which ultimately being greater than the initial deposit. Which again, is not necessarily illegal. Under certain conditions, it is.

Contrary to Hollywood’s portrayals of the wealthy, the overwhelming majority of wealthy individuals do not go around writing million dollar checks for absolutely no reason.  Most likely:

They believed it was for a good cause.

They hoped to gain favor and collect return.

Sure, some people, maybe even the majority, donated with the hope of contributing to something good. Among the small donors, this is likely the case, especially early on. The Clinton Foundation was founded in 1997. Since then, what positive difference has it made? What evidence can be produced? Relative to the size and budget, it has done nearly nothing. They certainly haven’t solved any problems. It is safe to say that the contributors writing million dollar checks are no fools. They are industry elites. The corporations and key executives responsible for the largest companies in the world. Slick Willy aint that slick.

What are they selling?

The Clinton family, not having done any sort of work outside of politics, do not produce any products, physical or intellectual, nor do they perform any services that do not derive value from past political positions or relationships developed as the result of those positions.

Graduates of Yale, and lawyers by trade, Bill and Hillary Clinton have both spent their entire careers in politics. After graduating in 1973, Bill was a law professor at the University of Arkansas, ran for the House of Representatives, and was elected Arkansas Attorney General before being elected Governor of Arkansas.

Hillary, after graduation, taught law at the University of Arkansas, served as a defense counsel and eventually joined the Rose Law Firm, a bastion of Arkansan political and economic influence, before becoming the First Lady of Arkansas.

Somehow the Clinton family has amassed a combined fortune estimated to be over $200,000,000, not including the tens, or even hundreds of millions spent on their lavish lifestyle. This also does not include the Clinton Foundation (which apparently paid for Chelsea Clinton’s multi-million-dollar wedding).

Earning this money primarily from speaking fees averaging just over $210,000 each, the Clintons have been jetted around the world at the expense of private banks, big business and foreign nations. From 2001 to 2014, they spent $95,000,000 on taxes. By any estimation, they made more money flapping their jaws than anyone else in history.

Career Politicians

Realistically, what did the Clintons have worth paying for? What could they possibly offer to people in exchange for hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars? The only answer to that question is political influence.

Conflict(s) of Interest

A substantial portion (likely the vast majority) of this wealth was collected while Hillary held public office.

As Senator of New York, she served on the Committee on Budget (2000 – 2002), Committee on Armed Services (2003 – 2009), Committee on Environment and Public Works (2001 – 2009), Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (2001 – 2009), and the Special Committee on Aging. She was also a member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (2001 – 2009).

As Secretary of State from 2009-2013, using the authority of her office, Hillary Clinton brokered the sale military equipment and technology, including fighter jets, attack helicopters, missiles, missile defense systems, many of which were transferred to nations deemed complicit in support of terrorist activities against the United States and allies. The annual sum of these sales shattered records.

During this time these same foreign nations donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation.

Coincidentally, again during this same time frame (actually, dating back to the late 1990s and early 2000s), the defense contractors who ultimately received contracts for these deals paid tens millions of dollars to the lobbying group owned and operated by John and Tony Podesta. (among other lobbying firms)

John Podesta served as White House Chief of Staff under Bill Clinton from 1998-2001. During the Obama Administration, John Podesta served as co-chair to the transition team and Senior Advisor to the President.

The Podestas also received millions of dollars from several corporations and organizations owned in part by many of the same foreign nations who were approved by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to purchase American military weapons and technology.

The Clinton Foundation since its inception, has received over $2,000,000,000 in contributions from a vast network of people and organizations all over the world. The organizations mission is a war on various world problems ranging from poverty to gender equality. The positive results of the Clinton Foundation’s programs remain unclear.