Wikileaks Reveals Possible Smoking Gun for “Clinton Cash”

by Kitty Testa

Back on April 26 of this year, Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer appeared on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos to discuss the revelations of Clinton pay-to-play schemes which linked donations to the Clinton Foundation to the Clintons’ personal enrichment, and favorable treatment by the State Department while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.

As Schweizer noted in the interview, Clinton supporters would call the relationship between foundation donations and that favorable treatment “coincidences.” Stephanopoulos pressed Schweizer repeatedly, demanding evidence to support his conclusions. Stephanopoulos appeared to be amazed that Schweizer suggested that law enforcement should investigate the claims he laid out in Clinton Cash.

“Is there a smoking gun?” asked Stephanopoulos to his guest.

“Yes. The smoking gun is in the pattern of behavior,” Schweizer answered.

Over and over, the show’s host repeated that Schweizer had no evidence, and implied that he was a partisan shill funded by the Koch brothers. Stephanopoulos, who worked for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns and administration, and who also had donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation, was generally dismissive of Schweizer during the interview.

Fast forward to the Wikileaks email dumps of Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager’s email account about six months later, and we see a different picture.

Several of the messages in the Podesta emails discuss the Clinton Cash accusations and how to dismiss them or distract from them. One of the emails pertains directly to the Schweizer interview with Stephanopoulos.

The email thread begins with Josh Schwerin of the Clinton campaign forwarding a rush transcript of the ABC interview, almost immediately after it aired, to Jesse Ferguson, also a member of the Clinton team.

Jesse Ferguson then takes credit for how the interview proceeded, and Communications Director for the campaign, Jennifer Palmieri, replies with praise.

Nick Merrill, Clinton’s Press Secretary, concludes the email thread with admiration for Stephanopoulos, calling him “cool as a cucumber” during the interview.

Clearly, the purpose of Stephanopoulos interviewing Schweizer was not an attempt to bring light to the issues and explore them, but rather to vigorously discredit Schweizer prior to the release of the book. It’s not terribly surprising given Stephanopoulos’ relationship with the Clintons, but the fact that he performed a service for the Clinton campaign is disturbing.

Stephanopoulos implied that all that is revealed in Clinton Cash is worthless because there was no smoking gun.  Well, now there is.

In a recent batch of Podesta emails we find an email from Doug Band, a partner in Teneo, a consulting firm contracted and paid by the Clinton Foundation. Attached to the email is a memo dated 11/16/11, in which Band describes and defends Teneo’s activities as they relate to the Clintons. This was in response to Chelsea Clinton raising concerns about Doug Band’s activities, fearing that Band was personally profiting from his relationship with Bill Clinton.

Given concerns that have been expressed about the role of Teneo in the Foundation’s and the President’s activities, as well as regarding support I provide for President’s for-profit business activities, I wanted to take this opportunity to share information and help clarify my activities on behalf of the President –both on behalf of non-profit Foundation activities and the management of the his for-profit business opportunities. 

 Throughout the past almost 11 years since President Clinton left office, I have sought to leverage my activities, including my partner role at Teneo, to support and to raise funds for the Foundation. This memorandum strives to set forth how I have endeavored to support the Clinton Foundation and President Clinton personally.

Band’s memo is a laundry list of his accomplishments which include corporate fundraising for the Clinton Foundation. Large donors include Coca Cola, Dow Chemical, UBS, Allstate, among others. Also listed was Laureate International Universities, and Doug Band clearly states that the Clintons financially benefited from the relationship.

Band goes on to explain that he has been instrumental in managing “For-Profit Activities of President Clinton (i.e., Bill Clinton, Inc.), for which Teneo is not separately compensated.

The memo goes on to list numerous companies that have paid large sums for Bill Clinton speeches, including one at BHP still pending vetting by the State Department.

The content of the memo is damaging to the Clintons and to their Foundation. It shows how the Clinton family members benefited financially from the foundation through Teneo’s efforts. It shows how Teneo performed a great deal of non-Foundation work for the Clintons, including “campaigning on behalf of candidates for elected office,” all while being paid by the Clinton Foundation.

Interestingly, Band makes a point to remind the Clinton Foundation executives that these activities may not be legal vis-à-vis the Foundation’s tax-exempt status.

This is the smoking gun.  Doug Band’s memo explicitly shows how the Clinton Foundation serves as the Clinton family’s personal ATM. It illustrates that the stated purpose of the Foundation is a cover for the true business of the firm. It’s like Sitriale’s Pork Store in The Sopranos. Yes, you can get a sandwich there, but there’s more going on there than you really want to know.