http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/05/12/cnbc_grills_sidney_blumenthal_how_would_we_know_donations_to_clinton_foundation_didnt_affect_policy.htmlCNBC Grills Sidney Blumenthal: "How Would We Know" Donations To Clinton Foundation Didn't Affect Policy?
By Tim Hains
Posted on May 12, 2016
In a Thursday morning interview on CNBC, Clinton backer Sidney Blumenthal faced questions about his relationship with the Clinton Foundation's operations in Libya during the time Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.
Backstory: Sidney Blumenthal was a longtime Clinton friend, Clinton Foundation employee, and supposed "fixer" who Hillary wanted to hire at the State Department, but President Obama refused to allow him to serve in his administration. That didn’t stop her from using her private email server to communicate with him about how things were going in Libya as the war spiraled out of control. His correspondences with Clinton are probably a part of any investigation into what happened in that country, and he testified at the House Benghazi Committee last year. In 2011, the U.S. and several European countries overthrew the government of Libya, leaving the country in a state of anarchy which continues today.
"I testified for nine-and-a-half hours," Blumenthal said about the Benghazi Committee Thursday morning. "I answered all their questions... On the question of so-called "clients" [in Libya], I had no contracts with anybody. I didn't invest in anybody, no one made a nickel. No one spent a penny. I had a real job at the Clinton Foundation working on educational projects, that was a separate matter."
"You weren't getting paid by Libya?" the host asked. "Should we ever think that there was influence in State Department Affairs that were influenced by donations to the Clinton Foundation? I don't know whether we've totally vetted that -- there is perhaps the aura of something going on, certain people think that certainly."
"Reports show that there were not donations to the Clinton Foundation that had any influence on State Dept. policy," he said. "And about the Benghazi committee -- I have urged for the release of my testimony, I have always urged it."
"How would we know donations wouldn't affect policy?" asked a CNBC host.
"How would you know?" Blumenthal wondered. "I think there have been some examples that were reported in the [New York] Times, they have been debunked."
video at link if you can stomach watching it
