Re: WSJ | Foreign Government Donations

To answer earlier questions on this chain -- we looked into foreign govt donations to former presidential libraries and foundations a while back. See memo attached. Will update to include Bush 43. Bush 41 received funds from Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Oman, UAE for his library, including while his son was in office. Carter Center has received funds from Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Netherlands, etc. Unclear if they publicly designate anywhere whether it goes to endowment v. specific programming. Looking into that now. I will leave all the defensive things to those who have and know the data for pushback. But there is a much larger strategic question that we need to resolve and stop this from spreading beyond today and probably tomorrow. And that is how quickly foundation stops. Even if we don’t announce it immediately, we may want to stop immediately. Obviously, doing this in the context of an overall strategy we can stick with is better than dealing with brush fires. Just to provide additional context on some of the questions raised below (not sure what has been answered already): Most of the recent government grants were directed to a Clinton Foundation program/project. For example (and we should verify with the Foundation if we are sharing this publicly): Germany’s donation was to support CF’s agricultural initiative in Africa Norway I believe was to support CF’s climate work Canada was for the Foundation’s work in Haiti, I believe These countries were definitely specifically for a CF program: Norway, Italy, Australia and the Netherlands Qatar was for CGI The only governments that donated to the endowment were: Saudi Arabia, Oman, and UAE On Feb 18, 2015, at 11:00 AM, Nick Merrill <nmerrill@hrcoffice.com<mailto:nmerrill@hrcoffice.com>> wrote: Adding Dennis here as well. alot and we have that data - we can pull it. cdm On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 10:57 AM, Mandy Grunwald <gruncom@aol.com<mailto:gruncom@aol.com>> wrote: How much money have each of the Bush libraries (or philanthropies) raised from overseas? Mandy Grunwald Grunwald Communications 202-973-9400<tel:202-973-9400> gruncom@aol.com<mailto:gruncom@aol.com> ----- And John to your question about the uptick relative to other philanthropies, I’m sure there was an overall increase post-recesssion, but particularly given the endowment campaign our uptick will far exceed that of others’ increases. If we get more on this I’ll come back to you. If it has raised 48MM from overseas, what % of the total raised is that? Sent from my iPhone On Feb 18, 2015, at 8:56 AM, Margolis, Jim < Jim.Margolis@gmmb.com<mailto:Jim.Margolis@gmmb.com>> wrote: Nick, So virtually all of these donations were to the endowment and were not for specific projects, correct? And are there examples of projects that are currently supported/funded through the endowment, or is the Foundation just building the endowment at this point (no disbursements)? It would be nice to paint a picture of how this money is being put to work — even anecdotally. http://www.wsj.com/articles/foreign-government-gifts-to-clinton-foundation-on-the-rise-1424223031 Foreign Government Gifts to Clinton Foundation on the Rise By James V. Grimaldi and Rebecca Ballhaus Feb. 17, 2015 8:30 p.m. ET The Clinton Foundation has dropped its self-imposed ban on collecting funds from foreign governments and is winning contributions at an accelerating rate, raising ethical questions as Hillary Clinton <http://topics.wsj.com/person/C/Hillary-Clinton/6344> ramps up her expected bid for the presidency. Recent donors include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, Germany and a Canadian government agency promoting the Keystone XL pipeline. In 2009, the Clinton Foundation stopped raising money from foreign governments after Mrs. Clinton became secretary of state. Former President Bill Clinton, who ran the foundation while his wife was at the State Department, agreed to the gift ban at the behest of the Obama administration, which worried about a secretary of state’s husband raising millions while she represented U.S. interests abroad. The ban wasn’t absolute; some foreign government donations were permitted for ongoing programs approved by State Department ethics officials. The donations come as Mrs. Clinton prepares for an expected run for the Democratic nomination for president, and they raise many of the same ethical quandaries. Since leaving the State Department in early 2013, Mrs. Clinton officially joined the foundation, which changed its name to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and has become a prodigious fundraiser as the foundation launched a $250 million endowment campaign, officials said. A representative for Hillary Clinton referred all questions to the Clinton Foundation. A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation said the charity has a need to raise money for its many projects, which aim to do such things as improve education, health care and the environment around the world. He also said that donors go through a vigorous vetting process. One of the 2014 donations comes from a Canadian agency promoting the proposed Keystone pipeline, which is favored by Republicans and under review by the Obama administration. The Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development agency of Canada, a first-time donor, gave between $250,000 and $500,000. The donations, which are disclosed voluntarily by the foundation, are given only in ranges. One of the agency’s priorities for 2014-2015 was to promote Keystone XL “as a stable and secure source of energy and energy technology,” according to the agency’s website. Mrs. Clinton’s State Department was involved in approving the U.S. government’s initial environmental-impact statement. Since leaving State, Mrs. Clinton has repeatedly declined to comment on Keystone. The Canadian donation originated from an agency office separate from the one that advocates for Keystone XL, a Foundation spokesman said. Kirk Hanson, director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University in California, said the Clintons should immediately reimpose the ban, for the same reasons it was in place while Mrs. Clinton led U.S. foreign policy. “Now that she is gearing up to run for president, the same potential exists for foreign governments to curry favor with her as a potential president of the United States,” he said. If she becomes president and deals with these nations, “she can’t recuse herself,” added James Thurber, director of American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. “Whether it influences her decision making is questionable, but it is a legitimate thing to focus on by her political opposition.” The donations weren’t announced by the foundation and were discovered by The Wall Street Journal during a search of donations of more than $50,000 posted on the foundation’s online database. Exactly when the website was updated isn’t clear. The foundation typically updates its website with the previous year’s donations near the beginning of the year. All 2014 donations were noted with asterisks. At least four foreign countries gave to the foundation in 2013—Norway, Italy, Australia and the Netherlands—a fact that has garnered little attention. The number of governments contributing in 2014 appears to have doubled from the previous year. Since its founding, the foundation has raised at least $48 million from overseas governments, according to a Journal tally. United Arab Emirates, a first-time donor, gave between $1 million and $5 million in 2014, and the German government—which also hadn’t previously given—contributed between $100,000 and $250,000. A previous donor, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has given between $10 million and $25 million since the foundation was created in 1999. Part of that came in 2014, although the database doesn’t specify how much. The Australian government has given between $5 million and $10 million, at least part of which came in 2014. It also gave in 2013, when its donations fell in the same range. Qatar’s government committee preparing for the 2022 soccer World Cup gave between $250,000 and $500,000 in 2014. Qatar’s government had previously donated between $1 million and $5 million. Oman, which had made a donation previously, gave an undisclosed amount in 2014. Over time, Oman has given the foundation between $1 million and $5 million. Prior to last year, its donations fell in the same range. The Clinton Foundation has set a goal of creating a $250 million endowment, an official said. One purpose was secure the future of the foundation’s programs without having to rely so much on the former president’s personal fundraising efforts, the official said. The Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Oman donations went to the endowment drive. Write to James V. Grimaldi at James.Grimaldi@wsj.com<mailto:James.Grimaldi@wsj.com> On Feb 17, 2015, at 8:39 PM, Nick Merrill < nmerrill@hrcoffice.com<mailto:nmerrill@hrcoffice.com>> wrote: James Grimaldi, the same investigative reporter writing this larger piece about Foundation/State Department overlap with corporate money (which is still TBD in terms of when/whether it will run) is writing a piece for tomorrow about the Foundation's acceptance of foreign money. The increase shows up on last year's disclosure for a number of reasons, some of it related to ongoing programs, some because there was an uptick in foreign money after she left State and the MOU no longer applied. Craig and his team have been working with them all day to separate fact from fiction where they can, and have given them a strong statement about donors’ contributions to the Foundation being a result of the good work it does, but wanted everyone to have a heads up. Nick