Bill Clinton addresses allegations about foundation
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Bill Clinton defended the work of his family's foundation in an interview to air Sunday at 9 a.m. on "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper
Clinton said his wife, Hillary, was "too busy" as secretary of state to be doling out favors for donors
The entire Clinton interview will air Sunday at 9 a.m. on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper.
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Bill Clinton aggressively denied allegations that donors to his family’s foundation were given special treatment by Hillary Clinton’s State Department in a lengthy interview with CNN set to air on Sunday.
The former president told CNN’s Jake Tapper that no Clinton Foundation donor has “asked me for anything,” adding that his wife was too busy as secretary of state to do favors for foundation supporters.
“She was pretty busy those years,” Clinton told Tapper. “I never saw her study a list of my contributors, and I had no idea who was doing business before the State Department.”
The Clinton Foundation and their rolls of foreign and corporate donors have become a flashpoint for Hillary Clinton’s newly announced presidential campaign. Critics and investigative reporters have sought to prove that supporters of the Clinton Foundation were currying favor with the Clintons when they donated, but no blatant example of influence peddling has been revealed in months of scrutiny.
Clinton said that any crossover between Clinton Foundation donors and companies the State Department was lobbying for abroad was more happenstance than nefarious.
“America’s always had to lobby for American-made airplanes,” Clinton said, referring to the fact that Boeing, an American airplane manufacturer, had worked with both the State Department while also donating to the foundation’s work in Haiti.
“I don’t think they (donated) to make the government like them better. We do like them better. All Americans are grateful that there are American jobs and businesses around the world,” Clinton said. “So I don’t know of anything, if there was even an appearance of conflict, except all these folks helped us do what we do, which I think is good work.”
While Clinton said nothing was ever given to the foundation’s donors, he said that he could not outright deny that any of his donors were hoping for anything in return when they cut his foundation a check.
“I know of no example, but I don’t ever know what people’s motives are,” he said.
Clinton echoed many of his wife’s supporters and aides when he said attacks on his foundation were strictly about politics.
“Nobody even suggested it or talked about it or thought about it until the political season began,” Clinton said..
The foundation, however, has admitted they’ve made missteps in the past, particularly on the reporting and approval of their foreign donations. Foundation aides admitted earlier this year they “made mistakes” in reporting, but did nothing intentionally wrong.
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Bill Clinton is seen in 1998 during his second term as US president.
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Clinton was born in Hope, Arkansas, on August 19, 1946.
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A young Clinton shakes hands with President John F. Kennedy while other American Legion Boys Nation delegates look on during a trip to the White House in 1963.
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In 1974, Clinton ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives seat for Arkansas' Third Congressional District.
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Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas in 1978. He is seen here with civil rights activist Rosa Parks and first lady Rosalynn Carter in July 1979.
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Talk show host Arsenio Hall gestures approvingly as Clinton plays the saxophone during a taping of "The Arsenio Hall Show" in 1992. Clinton was running for president at the time.
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Clinton and his running mate, US Sen. Al Gore, tour a factory in Davenport, Iowa, in 1992.
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Clinton debates President George H.W. Bush and independent candidate H. Ross Perot, not pictured, in October 1992. It was their third and final debate.
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From left, Hillary Clinton, Tipper Gore, Bill Clinton and Al Gore celebrate their election victory in Little Rock, Arkansas, in November 1992. Clinton won with 43% of the vote to Bush's 37% and Perot's 19%.
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The Clintons' cat, Socks, is photographed outside the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock in November 1992.
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Former President Ronald Reagan presents Clinton with a jar of red, white and blue jelly beans in Los Angeles in November 1992. Reagan said they kept him from smoking cigarettes.
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Clinton takes his morning jog through the National Mall in May 1993.
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From left, Former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush join Clinton at the White House for the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in September 1993.
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James Brady, the Reagan administration press secretary who was wounded during a 1981 assassination attempt, watches Clinton sign the Brady Bill at the White House in November 1993. The bill required a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases.
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Clinton calls on a reporter during a White House news conference in March 1994. The President said he would release his tax returns from the late-1970s to answer questions about his Whitewater investment. Six years later, independent counsel Robert Ray closed the Whitewater investigation, clearing the Clintons of any wrongdoing in the real-estate scandal.
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Clinton sits in a 1967 Ford Mustang while visiting the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina in April 1994.
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White House intern Monica Lewinsky embraces Clinton at a Democratic fundraiser in Washington, DC, in October 1996.
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Clinton tees off while playing golf at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts in August 1997.
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Paula Jones, center, arrives at the office of a lawyer representing Clinton in January 1998. The former Arkansas state employee filed a federal civil lawsuit in 1994 accusing Clinton of making "persistent and continuous" unwanted sexual advances during a conference in 1991, when he was governor. The President agreed to an $850,000 settlement in November 1998.
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Clinton speaks about the Monica Lewinsky scandal at the White House in January 1998, as first lady Hillary Clinton looks on. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," he said.
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Members of the 105th Congress fill the Senate chamber as Clinton delivers his State of the Union address in January 1998.
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Vice President Al Gore looks on as Clinton writes a "0" on the board, showing what the federal deficit would be after unveiling his balanced budget plan for 1999. The President declared an end to "an era of exploding deficits" as he sent a $1.73 trillion budget to Congress that promised the first surplus in more than three decades.
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The Clintons and their daughter, Chelsea, depart the White House with their dog, Buddy, in August 1998. They were leaving for a two-week vacation at Martha's Vineyard. The day before, the President gave a televised address regarding his testimony to a federal grand jury in which he admitted to an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
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Clinton answers questions from reporters in December 1998 before the start of a meeting with his foreign policy team. After a December 16 military strike on Iraq, Clinton warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein against threatening his neighbors. Clinton also indicated his determination to complete the operations that continued the next day with renewed bombing of Iraqi sites suspected of housing parts to manufacture weapons of mass destruction.
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The Clintons listen as House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt addresses the nation oat the White House in December 1998. It was after the House of Representatives voted to impeach the President on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice related to the Lewinsky scandal. A defiant Clinton rejected calls for his resignation.
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Clinton pauses while reading a statement in the White House Rose Garden after the Senate voted to acquit him in February 1999. Clinton apologized for the actions that led to his impeachment, saying he was "profoundly sorry."
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Clinton meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, left, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat at Maryland's Camp David in July 2000. It was at the end of a Mideast peace summit. The talks ended without an agreement.
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Clinton leaves a McDonald's in Monroe Michigan, in August 2000. The day before, he spoke at the Democratic National Convention, passing the Democratic Party's symbolic torch to Vice President Al Gore.
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Clinton speaks at a New York fundraiser as he supports his wife's US Senate campaign in October 2000.
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Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, wave as they leave Washington, DC, following George W. Bush's inauguration in January 2001.
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Clinton cheers a group of saxophone players at a rally in New York in July 2001. Harlem residents were welcoming Clinton, who was moving into his new post-presidential office.
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Dr. Craig Smith, right, answers a reporter's question about Clinton's health after Clinton had quadruple bypass surgery in September 2004. Clinton was hospitalized after suffering chest pains and shortness of breath. Doctors announced that some of Clinton's arteries had been blocked more than 90%.
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Clinton attends the inauguration of his presidential library and museum in Little Rock, Arkansas, in November 2004. Clinton was joined, from right, by his wife, his daughter, former President George W. Bush, first lady Laura Bush, former President George H.W. Bush, former first lady Barbara Bush, former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter.
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Clinton gestures as he explains to journalists that the baby being held here was born just two days earlier at a refugee camp in Jantho, Indonesia, in May 2005. Clinton was visiting ground zero of the tsunami disaster.
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Clinton visits Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston in September 2005. That same day, Clinton and former President George H.W. Bush announced the formation of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to assist victims.
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In January 2006, Clinton announced that an agreement was reached by the Clinton Foundation to allow the sale of anti-retroviral drugs Efavirenz and Abacavir, as well as HIV tests, at a lower cost in developing countries. Anti-retroviral drugs and rapid tests were regarded as part of the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative.
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The former President addresses the Democratic National Convention in August 2008.
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Journalist Laura Ling speaks in front of Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore and Euna Lee in August 2009, after she and Lee were released by North Korean authorities. Ling and Lee were arrested by North Korea for illegally entering the country on the Chinese border. They were pardoned by President Kim Jong-Il after a meeting with Clinton. Ling and Lee had been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
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Clinton visits the General Hospital of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the country in January 2010. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon placed Clinton in charge of overseeing aid and reconstruction efforts.
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Bill Gates, co-founder and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March 2010. Gates and Clinton voiced their support for legislation that would increase funding for global health and outlined what they believe could be cost-effective ways to fight HIV/AIDS and poverty around the world.
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The former President walks his daughter down the aisle during her wedding to Marc Mezvinsky in July 2010.
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Clinton welcomes President Barack Obama to the stage during a campaign rally in New Hampshire in November 2012.
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Clinton speaks to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting in Beijing in November 2013.
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Obama awards Clinton the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2013. The medal is considered the nation's highest civilian honor.
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Clinton swears in New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in January 2014.
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Clinton and former President George W. Bush share a laugh during a September 2014 event launching the Presidential Leadership Scholars program at the Newseum in Washington, DC.
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The Clintons hold their granddaughter, Charlotte, at a New York hospital in September 2014.
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Clinton and actor Sean Penn visit a cholera treatment center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in February 2015.
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The Clintons embrace after Hillary announced her presidential campaign in June 2015.
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The Clintons vote at a school in Chappaqua, New York, in April 2016.
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The Clintons, their daughter and their son-in-law leave a hospital in June 2016 after Chelsea gave birth to her first son, Aidan.
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The Clintons greet supporters during a presidential campaign rally in Pittsburgh in July 2016.
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Clinton talks to his daughter, Chelsea, before the start of one of Hillary's presidential debates in October 2016.
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Former President Clinton campaigns for his wife in Waterloo, Iowa, in November 2016.
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Clinton listens to his wife speak to supporters after her election defeat in 2016.
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Clinton attends Alec Baldwin's celebrity roast in June 2017.
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Clinton and former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama pose for a selfie with golfer Phil Mickelson during the Presidents Cup event in September 2017.
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In June 2018, Clinton signs copies of his novel "The President Is Missing," which he co-wrote with James Patterson.
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump join the Clintons and other former Presidents and first ladies at the state funeral for George H.W. Bush in December 2018.
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French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, welcome Clinton for a lunch in Paris in September 2019. Clinton was in France to pay tribute to the late French President Jacques Chirac.
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Clinton delivers a speech during the Democratic National Convention in August 2020.
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Clinton pays his respects to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020. Ginsburg was appointed to the high court by Clinton in 1993.
A moment of silence is held at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York in September 2021. From left are Bill Clinton; Hillary Clinton; former President Barack Obama; former first lady Michelle Obama; President Joe Biden; first lady Jill Biden; former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Bloomberg's partner, Diana Taylor; and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Clinton’s comments came during the annual meeting of Clinton Global Initiative America in Denver, where foundation supporters made nearly 80 pledges to address issues such as providing low-income Americans with alternatives to predatory loans and providing Navajo Nation with solar power.
In his interview with Tapper, Clinton described his foundation as an endeavor to “get people who have money to people who don’t, and to give it to them in a way that’s empowering so it actually changes their lives.”
Clinton reiterated that the foundation’s aim was to help the powerless; people “who are working as hard as they can, but who don’t have enough money to support their kids and meet basic human needs.”
“They can’t change the future,” he said. “(For them) every tomorrow is just like yesterday. That’s how I define powerless. Not poverty. Not adversity alone. But the inability to alter your condition.”
The entire Clinton interview will air Sunday at 9 a.m. on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper.