With several major American newspapers’ editorial boards calling on Hillary Clinton to sever her ties with the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the Democratic presidential nominee hunkered down over the weekend in an interview with ABC’s David Muir.
The former secretary of state, who has been accused of establishing a pay-for-play scheme in which donors to the Clinton Foundation received favors from the U.S. State Department, said she “didn’t think” there were conflicts of interest. She told Muir those allegations were “never proven” but that she takes them seriously.
The dealings within the Clinton Foundation were the subject of a book, which has since become a documentary film, Clinton Cash, and the controversy has been fueled by emails released by conservative groups Judicial Watch and Citizens United. Those emails document numerous accounts of Clinton donors who had direct access to Clinton or her senior advisers.
“I’m very proud of the work that the Clinton Foundation has done,” Clinton said in the interview. “It’s a world-renowned charity because of the work that my husband started and many, many people helped him with …
“He started this great work. He has made it his life’s work after the presidency. And he has said, if I am so fortunate enough to be elected, he will not be involved. And I think that is appropriate.”
The Donald Trump campaign said her statement was an admission that the status quo would continue, despite calls from the New York Times, the Boston Globe, USA Today, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune for Clinton to cut her ties to the foundation. Spokesman Jason Miller said her comments expose an “ethical blindspot” that would be dangerous for the country if she were elected.
“Given the repeated examples of Clinton Foundation donors and officials receiving access and favors from Hillary Clinton’s State Department,” he added, “what she is proposing is to essentially plant a giant ‘for sale’ sign on the White House lawn.”
Meanwhile, President Bill Clinton called the controversy surrounding the Clinton Foundation “really funny” during a speech over the weekend. He said he was “sort of Robin Hood” except he didn’t rob anyone—he just “asked people with money to give it to people who didn’t have money.”
“There’s nothing funny about the growing evidence of corruption and conflicts of interest between the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton’s State Department,” Miller responded on behalf of the Trump campaign. “The fact that a Hillary Clinton presidency would be compromised by tens of millions of dollars in foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation is no laughing matter either—it is downright terrifying. When that 3 a.m. phone call comes, we can’t have an ethically challenged president on the line who took truckloads of cash from other countries.”
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