Clinton Foundation: 'We made mistakes'

The acting chief executive of the Clinton Foundation addressed mistakes that the philanthropic organization has made in a blog post on Sunday, while also emphasizing that its policy regarding donor disclosure and foreign governments is “stronger than ever.”

Maura Pally, the organization’s CEO and senior vice president, women and youth programs, said that the foundation “will likely refile” tax forms for some years after a voluntary external review, which found that it had “mistakenly combined” government grants with other donations.

“So yes, we made mistakes, as many organizations of our size do, but we are acting quickly to remedy them, and have taken steps to ensure they don’t happen in the future,” Pally wrote. “We are committed to operating the Foundation responsibly and effectively to continue the life-changing work that this philanthropy is doing every day.”

Pally also addressed the Clinton Foundation’s relationship with Canadian businessman Frank Giustra, who set up an independent charity called the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership.

The fact that individual donors are not listed on the foundation’s site is not an effort to avoid transparency, she said, noting that Canadian law requires charities to get prior permission from each donor to disclose their identities.

Palley’s statement comes as Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign faces questions from all sides on the family foundation’s financial backing — especially from news outlets pursuing lines of inquiry raised by Peter Schweizer, the conservative author of the forthcoming book “Clinton Cash.”

Giustra’s involvement with the Clinton Foundation, for instance, came under scrutiny last week following a report by The New York Times that keyed off the allegations raised in the book. Giustra and the Clinton Foundation have hotly denied the report.

Schweizer acknowledged in an interview with ABC that he does not have any “direct evidence” of improper conduct on the part of the former secretary of state, but that the “smoking gun is in the pattern of behavior.”

He added that more investigation may be necessary.

“The way they look at it is they look at a pattern of stock trades. I think the same thing applies here,” Schweizer said.

Clinton herself has remained silent on the latest round of allegations.

She struck an earnest tone in a Des Moines Register op-ed published late Sunday, telling Iowans that her trip through the state earlier this month convinced here even more that “it’s time to reshuffle the deck and deal a better hand to the middle class.”

“I will carry the stories and wisdom of the Iowans I met with me throughout the campaign and hopefully onto the White House,” she wrote. “You are the reason I got into this race and I will work my heart out to earn your votes.”