NYT to Clinton Foundation: Reinstate ban on foreign donors

As the Democratic presidential frontrunner-in-waiting, Hillary Clinton should reinstate the ban on foreign donors contributing to the Clinton Global Initiative, The New York Times’ editorial board wrote Friday.

The editorial comes on the heels of a report by The Wall Street Journal that the foundation quietly dropped the restriction after she left the State Department in 2013. Donors included the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia, the Journal reports, in addition to a Canadian government agency that backs the Keystone XL pipeline.


The Washington Post also reported earlier this week that the Clinton Foundation has raised almost $2 billion since its inception in 2001, with foreign donors making up more than half of those who have given more than $5 million.

Donations from foreign contributors were banned after Clinton became President Barack Obama’s secretary of state in 2009.

“No critic has alleged a specific conflict of interest,” the Times’ board writes. “The foundation, in fact, went beyond normal philanthropic bounds for transparency six years ago in instituting voluntary disclosure of donors within broad dollar ranges on its website. But this very information can feed criticism.”

The Clinton Foundation maintains that its transparency record “goes above what is required of U.S. charities.”

“This includes the voluntary disclosure of contributions on the Foundation’s website,” the foundation said in a statement Thursday. “Should Secretary Clinton decide to run for office, we will continue to ensure the Foundation’s policies and practices regarding support from international partners are appropriate, just as we did when she served as Secretary of State.

The Republican National Committee responded to the foundation’s statement in an email Friday.

“The for sale sign is still up, and as long as the Clinton Foundation continues to take foreign money, Hillary’s conflict-of-interest problem is just going to keep getting bigger,” RNC spokesman Michael Short said in a statement to POLITICO.