U.S. Global Investors CEO Frank Holmes owned stock in Uranium One, which was reported to have benefited from a deal with Russia that took place during Hillary Clinton’s time as Secretary of State. Holmes also donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Clinton Foundation.
The New York Times reported Holmes donated between $250,000 and $500,000 to the Clinton Foundation and his company, U.S. Global Investors, owned $4.7 million in shares of Uranium One during the first quarter of 2011. Joe Kernen asked about a timeline of when Holmes had bought the stock and when he had donated to the foundation, Holmes could not give an answer.
"I think I started in 2006 or 2007 giving money to it, and I would show up at the annual meeting at the CGI and I’ve seen CNBC, and Becky was there. I’ve seen them in the hallways at those events and that’s how I got really involved with it," Holmes said.
Holmes also said that he had bought a bunch of energy companies because of secular bull market and could not recall Uranium One specifically.
When asked whether Holmes was in a position to benefit from the approval of the deal while writing checks to the foundation, Holmes said he gives to multiple different charities and that his donations to the foundation and owning stock in Uranium One were at two separate points in time.
Holmes was given one last chance to clear everything up and he continued to attack CNBC for having a booth at Clinton Foundation events.