Guest Post by Philip Hodges
Back when Peter Schweizer’s book “Clinton Cash” first exposed the pay-to-play corruption involving then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation – where donors to the foundation were granted political access, including lavish White House State dinners – the Clinton campaign responded by focusing on all the supposed “good” that the foundation has done over the years.
I don’t think anyone was fooled into thinking that the Clinton Foundation was anything other than a money-making machine for the Clinton family and their well-connected friends. The foundation had to at least have the appearance of being a charity, so they had to divert some of their resources to causes. That way, they could always point to those grants as evidence that they’re an organization for good.
The Daily Caller reported that only 5.7 percent of the money they raked in went to actual charity:
Just 5.7 percent of the Clinton Foundation’s massive 2014 budget actually went to charitable grants, according to the tax-exempt organization’s IRS filings. The rest went to salaries and employee benefits, fundraising and “other expenses.”
The Clinton Foundation spent a hair under $91.3 million in 2014, the organization’s IRS filings show. But less than $5.2 million of that went to charitable grants.
That number pales in comparison to the $34.8 million the foundation spent on salaries, compensation and employee benefits.
Another $50.4 million was marked as “other expenses,” while the remaining almost $851K was marked as “professional fundraising expenses.”
Despite taking in an additional $30 million in 2014, the Clinton Foundation spent 40 percent less on charitable grants in 2014 than in 2013. Even as it slashed charitable spending, the foundation increased the amount spent on salaries, employee benefits and compensation by $5 million in 2014. The foundation also spent $5 million more “other expenses” in 2014.
Sometimes, things are exactly as they appear. This was nothing more than a way for the Clintons to make massive amounts of money. And Hillary used her position as Secretary of State to pull money from rich people in exchange for political favors.
Crossposted from Eagle Rising