Clinton charity to allow 6 countries to donate

WASHINGTON — In its decision to limit contributions from foreign governments to six nations and provide more frequent disclosures about donations, the Clinton Foundation alluded Thursday to the political dimensions of its new moves.

The Clinton family’s charity acknowledged on its website that it made the changes in light of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s decision to run for president, but the new guidelines may provide only limited protection from ethics concerns.

The new policy appeared aimed at insulating Clinton from future controversies by stopping the flow of millions of dollars already donated by Mideast governments accused of repression of dissenters and women’s rights. Some of the millions from foreign governments were donated during Clinton’s four-year tenure as secretary of state. More came during her work as a director of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation until she resigned last week from the charity’s board to begin her 2016 presidential campaign.

Ethics experts said the foundation’s changes will offer some needed distance between Clinton and her family foundation’s ties to foreign governments.

But they said the new standards appeared driven more by politics than ethics and failed to address the full impact of as much as $ 130 million already donated by international governments, the charity’s reliance on private foreign interests and former President Bill Clinton’s dual role as foundation director and Hillary Clinton’s closest political adviser.

“They’re clearly sensitive to these questions, but they’ve reacted through a political prism,” said Douglas White, director of the Fundraising Management Graduate Program at Columbia University in New York. “From a philanthropic ethics perspective, they need to ensure that there is zero foreign influence, whether it comes from new money from foreign governments or money already donated.”

Until the new guidelines were imposed, at least 16 foreign governments gave between $55 million and $130 million, according to an Associated Press analysis of contribution ranges provided by the foundation.

Under the new rules, only six governments will be allowed to continue giving to the Clinton family charity — Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Foundation officials justified accepting donations from those six governments because their previous gifts were earmarked for specific health, poverty and climate change programs — and not as funding that could be used for any purpose. The foundation website said those countries only “will support our ongoing programmatic work.”