Leaked Memo Appears to Confirm Worst Suspicions About Clinton Foundation

by Rachel Stoltzfoos

Allies of the Clinton Foundation secured millions of dollars for Bill Clinton by encouraging donors to give him business opportunities, a memo published by Wikileaks shows.

Then top Bill Clinton aide Doug Band outlines in a 2011 memo how he and another partner of his law firm Teneo solicited their clients for donations to the Clinton Foundation and business opportunities for the former president, including $4.1 million in speaking fees for Bill.

In one instance Band’s partner Declan Kelly secured a donation for the Foundation from one of his clients after introducing him to Bill at an event in 2009. “Mr. Kelly also encouraged Mr. Mccann [the client] to invite President Clinton to give several paid speeches, which he has done,” the memo states.

Teneo has confirmed the memo is authentic. Wikileaks published the email containing the memo, along with tens of thousands of others stolen from Hillary Clinton campaign manager John Podesta.

When another client approached Bill to seek his services in an advisory role, Band and one of his partners persuaded them to get involved in the Foundation as well, so that the relationship “has grown into a business relationship for president Clinton and a donor relationship for [the Foundation].”

The memo was prepared to allay “concerns” from inside the Foundation about Teneo’s role in the Foundation and Bill’s work. “We appreciate the unorthodox nature of our roles, and the goal of seeking ways to ensure we are implementing best practices to protect the 501(c)3 status of the Foundation,” Band wrote in the memo. “As we go forward, we welcome the opportunity to identify better strategies for serving the President, the Foundation and its affiliated entities.”

Another section of the memo outlines more than $4.1 million in paid speech activity for Bill created and secured by Teneo. Among the opportunities listed is a $1.4 million speaking fee from Ericsson for an address he gave in China that included $400,000 for the cost of a private plane.

NBC’s Chuck Todd said the hacked memo “reinforces worst perception of the Clintons,” a strong statement coming from someone with a network clearly in the tank for the Clinton campaign.

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