Memo links Bill Clinton’s wealth to his foundation
Consultancy run by aide helped land engagements
In a 2011 memo, an aide to Bill Clinton laid out the messy relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the former president’s interests, detailing how some foundation donors also paid Clinton to speak and provide consulting services.
The memo was released on Wednesday as part of a WikiLeaks dump of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta’s hacked emails.
Doug Band, a longtime aide to Bill Clinton, wrote the 2011 memo as part of an internal audit at the Clinton Foundation. In trying to explain his role in the foundation, Band also brought up a series of instances he and his consulting company, Teneo Holdings, helped Bill Clinton secure forprofit contracts.
The memo, circulated to some in Clinton’s inner circle including Podesta, reinforces Republican criticisms of the blurred lines between the foundation and professional interests of the Clintons and their associates.
“Independent of our fundraising and decision- making activities on behalf of the Foundation, we have dedicated ourselves to helping the President secure and engage in for- profit activities — including speeches, books, and advisory service engagements,” Band wrote.
Band said he and Justin Cooper, another longtime aide, weren’t separately compensated for helping Bill Clinton profit: “We do not receive a fee for, or percentage of, the more than $ 50 million in for- profit activity we have personally helped to secure for President Clinton to date or the $ 66 million in future contracts, should he choose to continue with those engagements.”
A Teneo spokesman forwarded a statement to USA TODAY.
“As the memo demonstrates, Teneo worked to encourage clients, where appropriate, to support the Clinton Foundation because of the good work that it does around the world. It also clearly shows that Teneo never received any financial benefit or benefit of any kind from doing so.”