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Team Hillary: We Won't 'Chase Our Own Tail' Amid Media Storm
Friday, April 24, 2015 05:27 PM
By: Cathy Burke
What began as a slow drip of information has turned into a deluge of reports about alleged conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency concerning the Clinton Foundation's acceptance of foreign money.
But Politico reports Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's camp isn't panicking.
"If we try to chase every media story, we chase our own tail. We’re not going to do that," campaign chairman John Podesta was quoted saying to donors Thursday, Politico reports.
The intrigue centers around Peter Schweizer's new book, "Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Help Make Bill and Hillary Rich" – and nearly every big national media outlet has picked up on it, including The New York Times, Politico, The Washington Post, Reuters, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.
Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon dismisses the book as a "smear project."
Still, the reports are piling up.
The New York Times reports millions poured into the Clinton Foundation between 2009 and 2013 – during the time Clinton was secretary of state – as a Russian atomic energy agency, Rosatom, took over Canadian-based Uranium One, giving the Russian company control of one-fifth of all uranium production capacity in the United States. The State Department approved the deal. The chairman of Uranium One made four donations to the Clinton Foundation, totaling $2.35 million; none were publicly disclosed.
Reuters reports the Clinton family’s charities are refiling at least five annual tax returns because of errors in reporting donations from foreign governments.
The Washington Post reports companies and organizations that are major donors to the Clinton Foundation have also paid former President Bill Clinton at least $26 million in speaking fees since he left office. Four speeches weren't on the Hillary Clinton's disclosure forms, including a speech to the politically connected Carlyle Group.
Politico reports Schweizer’s book alleges donor cash also influenced Clinton’s position on a trade deal with Colombia while she was at the State Department.
Bloomberg reports Schweizer also is working on a book about Jeb Bush, a likely GOP presidential contender. "What we’re doing is a drill-down investigation of Jeb’s finances similar to what we did with the Clintons in terms of looking at financial dealings, cronyism, who he’s been involved with," Schweizer told Bloomberg Politics. "We’ve found some interesting things."
Schweizer's allegations aren't the only controversies Clinton faces. She's still under fire for using a personal email server while secretary of state, and remains dogged by questions about the 2012 Benghazi attacks, though her lawyer has rejected a private interview with the House select committee investigating the siege.
"Hillary Clinton has already spent five hours testifying at two congressional committee hearings but, as she’s been saying since last year, she’s happy to do it again," Podesta said, Politico reports.
"Unfortunately, Republicans insist her testimony is done behind closed doors, where the American public is unable to see their true, politically motivated intentions."
