Sen. Clinton Accused of Working on Behalf of Husband’s Donors
January 13, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Secretary of State nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton faces issues regarding conflict of interest as an analysis of her official letters by the Associated Press shows that she intervened at least six times on government affairs that affected companies and donors that later gave to her husband’s foundation, the William J. Clinton Foundation.
The news service says that three of the New York Democratic senator’s government letters overlap with donations that involve pharmaceutical companies and telecommunications and energy interests. Both Mrs. Clinton and her husband’s foundation declined to comment on whether she tried to avoid working on issues that affected donors who gave to the foundation or to screen money from donors on whose behalf she worked.
Sen. Richard Lugar, of Indiana, the Foreign Relations Committee’s senior Republican, said at Mrs. Clinton’s confirmation hearing today that the ‘‘work of the Clinton foundation is a unique complication that will have to be managed with great care and transparency.’‘ He also said that the Clinton foundation should no longer accept money from foreign governments.
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