Leaked Memo Reveals Workings of 'Bill Clinton Inc.'

Aide would solicit donations for Clinton Foundation while getting paid gigs for Bill
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 27, 2016 1:48 PM CDT
Leaked Memo Reveals Workings of 'Bill Clinton Inc.'
Former President Bill Clinton takes the stage at the 2016 FEA Delegate Assembly, in Orlando, Fla., earlier this month.   (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

A 13-page memo detailing what an aide calls "Bill Clinton Inc." was made public Wednesday by WikiLeaks and will only add to Republican criticisms of the Clinton Foundation, the Washington Post reports. The memo, sent by Douglas Band, lays out how he and his company, Teneo, helped secure donations for the Clinton Foundation while lining up paid gigs for Bill Clinton. According to Salon, the memo says Teneo helped raise more than $150 million for the foundation. At the same time, Band says he secured tens of millions of dollars in income for Bill Clinton. For example, he got financial company UBS to donate $540,000 to the Clinton Foundation; he also got UBS to pay Bill Clinton $900,000 personally to give three speeches, the New York Daily News reports.

The memo was written in 2011 after Chelsea Clinton expressed concern about Teneo's role in raising money for the Clinton Foundation. Band admits his methods are "unorthodox" but argues that his raising money for the foundation was completely separate from getting paid gigs for Bill Clinton. "As the memo demonstrated, Teneo worked to encourage clients, where appropriate, to support the Clinton Foundation because of the good work that it does around the world," Teneo said in a statement released this week. Republicans have claimed the Clinton Foundation allowed corporations and others to buy access to Bill and Hillary Clinton. For example, the memo reveals Coca-Cola gave more than $4 million to the foundation between 2004 and 2010 and its chief executive was able to meet with Bill Clinton at home in 2009. (More Clinton Foundation stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X