In today’s speech, Donald Trump built on his reputation as a serial liar, touting false allegations sourced from a widely discredited book, Peter Schweizer’s Clinton Cash, claiming favoritism by the State Department in exchange for large speaking fees and donations to the Clinton Foundation.
Trump said, “A foreign telecom giant faced possible State Department sanctions for providing technology to Iran, and other oppressive regimes. So what did this company do? For the first time ever, they decided to pay Bill Clinton $750,000 for a single speech. The Clintons got their cash, the telecom company escaped sanctions.”
Trump Relied on Attacks from Widely Discredited Book
No Evidence For Claims
The State Department and independent media outlets ranging from The Washington Post and the New Yorker, to Vox and ABC found the Clinton Cash contained no compelling evidence of favoritism for Clinton Foundation donors. According to the New Yorker’s John Cassidy, author Peter Schweizer “doesn’t back up his suggestions of wrongdoing with much in the way of concrete evidence.” Vox’s Jonathan Allen agreed, stating Clinton Cash failed to “prove – or even assert – that Hillary Clinton took any official action because of contributions to the Clinton Foundation,” and outlets noted that the book relied heavily on innuendo and circumstantial evidence over any hard facts.
In fact, when media outlets and experts reviewed the book, they found errors and inaccuracies that required correcting. Schweizer was forced to correct or make “significant revisions” to “seven or eight” passages containing inaccuracies, including multiple passages attempting to connect some of President Clinton’s speeches to Secretary Clinton’s actions at the State Department.
Book’s Own Author Acknowledged He Had No Evidence to Support His Conspiracy Theories
During multiple television appearances touting his book, author Peter Schweizer was forced to admit that he had no concrete evidence of the alleged quid pro quos for Clinton Foundation donors. The Hill reported on Schweizer’s acknowledgment that “he has no smoking gun proving that either Hillary Clinton or former President Bill Clinton sought to further the interests of donors to the Clinton Foundation in improper ways.” During an appearance on ABC, Schweizer simply stated, “we don’t have direct evidence,” for the assertions in the book. Even Fox News reported on the author’s acknowledgment that he lacked evidence.
Trump’s False Claim that Ericsson Paid Bill Clinton for a Speech Just Before Telecom was Omitted from Iran Sanctions
Donald Trump touted previously debunked allegations from Schweizer’s Clinton Cash that Hillary Clinton spared Swedish telecom company Ericsson from Iran sanctions after Bill Clinton was paid hundreds of millions for a speech. When Yahoo News investigated this allegation it confirmed that “circumstantial evidence” was put together in order to imply a connection between Bill Clinton’s speech and the Iran Sanctions. Two sets of sanctions were imposed by President Obama via executive action, not by Clinton. The 2011 sanctions “specifically dealt with companies assisting Iran’s petroleum sector and nuclear energy,” and the 2012 sanctions “was directed at the users of technology who sought to stifle dissidents, as opposed to the equipment manufacturers.”
Clinton Foundation Work Affects Millions of Lives
The Clinton Foundation is a global non-profit organization dedicated to increasing opportunity for women and girls, improving global health, and creating economic opportunity and growth around the world. Despite right wing attacks, the Foundation has been praised by national and international leaders, business, and charity organizations for its effective and lifesaving work around the globe. Among its numerous initiatives, the Clinton Foundation has ensured access to affordable HIV/AIDS treatment to 9.9 million people, reducing the costs of treatments by over 80% . Since its inception, the Clinton Global Initiative has brought together philanthropists and businesses to improve the lives of over 430 million people.
Donations to Clinton Foundation Go Directly to These Charitable Activities
Philanthropists are attracted to the Clinton Foundation due to its highly regarded efficiency. The American Institute of Philanthropy awarded the Foundation consecutive A and A+ ratings for using nearly all contributions for its charitable activities. Following attacks on the Clinton Foundation’s fundraising, FactCheck.org highlighted that the Foundation “conducts most of its charitable activities directly,” ensuring that the vast majority of money raised would be used to further its global mission.
Even Donald Trump Has Supported the Clinton Foundation
Donald Trump was a supporter of the Clinton Foundation. Individually and through the Donald J. Trump Foundation, he has donated more than $100,000 to the Foundation and has attended a meeting of Clinton Global Initiative. Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, also supported the Clinton Foundation with donations between $5,000 and $10,000.