A former national security appointee at the State Department, who tried to have reporters arrested and resigned in 2011 after the media questioned his lack of foreign policy credentials and large donations to Democrats, is hosting a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton at his home on Tuesday.
Hillary Clinton appointed Rajiv Fernando, a top Clinton Foundation donor, to the International Security Board while she was at the State Department.
Fernando came under fire in 2012, after ABC News reported on his dearth of national security experience and questioned whether the appointment was linked to his fundraising for Clinton and other Democrats. Fernando had stepped down from the board in 2011, days after the news outlet asked the State Department about his credentials.
Fernando, a Chicago businessman, contributed between $100,000 and $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation before he was appointed.
The International Security Board advises the secretary of state on national security issues and is typically staffed with serious experts with long-term experience.
ABC News reported that when it approached Fernando in a hotel lobby in 2012 to ask about his former board position, he "asked hotel security to arrest the reporters, and at one point grabbed an ABC News camera and apparently attempted to break it."
The $2,700-per-plate fundraiser at Fernando’s home will include a special reception for those who raise over $27,000, Crain’s reported.
The Republican National Committee seized on Fernando’s controversial appointment on Monday, filing a Freedom of Information Act request about his former State Department position with the Office of Government Ethics.
"The American public deserves to know whether federal ethics officials flagged any issues about Mr. Fernando’s large political contributions prior to his appointment advisory board that he had no experience in and any other conflicts his appointment might have presented," said the FOIA request.
The RNC requested, "Any and all records, correspondence, emails, and memos, in any format, sent to, or received from Rajiv ‘Raj’ Fernando."