The Washington Post reported Thursday that the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation violated an ethics agreement forced on the Clintons by President Barack Obama. The agreement said that while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, her foundation was banned from accepting donations from foreign countries, but still accepted $500,000 from Algeria. Millions of dollars from other nations were donated to the Clinton Foundation during the same time, but were written in as exceptions to the agreement.
"I was just in Silicon Valley seeing Secretary Clinton give a preview of her campaign themes and a big focus of that campaign speech was on the rights of women, women’s achievements, and promoting women," Bloomberg’s Lisa Lerer said. "And it’s hard to see how taking money from these countries that are not exactly known for their record on women's rights doesn't undermine that message."
What is more troubling with the donation from Algeria is that the country was heavily lobbying the State Department at the time because it was facing human rights violations.
The National Journal’s Ron Fournier called the Clinton’s actions "sleazy" and "politically stupid." He doubled down Thursday.
"Their (the Clintons’) biggest blind spot is that they actually think that the ends justify the means. They don’t," Fournier said.
The report follows previous reports that the Clintons have accepted millions of dollars for foreign countries. Other nations who have provided to the Clinton’s conflict of interest include Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE. The report found that foreign governments comprise a third of the $2 billion raised by the Clinton Foundation since 2001. Most of these governments also lobbied the State Department at the same time they donated to charity organization.
Adding to the damage on Clinton’s standing with women, the Free Beacon’s Brent Scher first reported that during her time as senator, Clinton paid her female staffers 72 cents for every dollar made by her male staffers.