Clintons Still Raking In Speaking Cash Despite Campaign Scandals
01.27.2016 | K Street Eyes | 0
On January 22nd, Bill Clinton spoke to the Starkey Hearing Expo, a biennial event put on in Las Vegas by Starkey Hearing, an embattled Minnesota-based hearing aid company. Starkey is a long-time CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) donor, having given more than $1M to the group. The Huffington Post wrote a great piece summarizing this nonsense on 1/23. Full article here.
But in order to get a clearer picture of the long-term relationship between the Clintons, CGI and the Starkey organization we can follow the press links over the years.
The following tweet pictures Clinton standing next to Starkey founder and billionaire Bill Austin in Las Vegas last night: More Here
Hilary Clinton spoke to the group in 2014: More Here
Starkey Hearing (the company) and the Starkey Hearing Foundation are under investigation by the FBI and IRS. In November, the FBI and IRS raided the homes of two recently-fired Starkey executives (the president and CFO) outside of Minneapolis: More Here
The company released comment to the press at the time stating that the investigation was “to determine whether Starkey Hearing Technologies has been the victim of criminal activity.” More Here
But last month, fired president Jerry Ruzicka filed a whistleblower suit against the company, stating that he was terminated after reporting improprieties by Bill Austin other company executives. “He said Austin falsely claimed to be a resident of Texas to avoid paying Minnesota taxes and once told Ruzicka that, in business, there should be two documents: one kept in the drawer and the other for the tax man.” More Here
He further alleges that Austin or his family members “diverted millions in company funds for personal use, violated U.S. tax and customs laws, falsified records and sold hearing aids labeled new that were made from old components.” More Here
Even with the lawsuits and investigations underway, “Starkey is continuing its long practice of promoting itself with lavish events. Austin and company leaders gathered Thursday along with 3,200 Starkey distributors and employees in Las Vegas at the company’s multimillion-dollar Starkey Innovation Expo. The event, which celebrates Starkey distributors, will feature former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Magic Johnson and Ben Affleck among its speakers, with music from the Beach Boys.” More Here
Note: George W. Bush and business, and sports celebs are also expected to speak to the group this year. More Here
http://dailysurge.com/2016/01/clintons-still-raking-in-speaking-cash-despite-campaign-scandals/#
