Report: Bill Clinton Directed $2 Million "Charity" Payment to Company Co-Owned by Special "Friend" Who Often Visited While Hillary Was Away

The New York Post has the most innuendo.

Bill Clinton's foundation doled out $2 million to a power company partly owned by a wealthy blond divorcee -- who some say is the frequent visitor to his home nicknamed "Energizer."

The "commitment" to Julie Tauber McMahon's firm from the Clinton Global Initiative was placed on its 2010 conference agenda at Clinton’s urging, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

...

The fit, blond mother of three, who lives just minutes from Bill and Hillary Clinton’s home in Chappaqua, West­chester, is the daughter of Joel Tauber, a millionaire donor to the Democratic Party.

McMahon, 54, is rumored to be the woman dubbed "Energizer" by the Secret Service at the Clinton home because of her frequent visits, according to RadarOnline.

Secret Service agents were even given special instructions to abandon usual protocol when the woman came by, according to journalist Ronald Kessler's tell-all book, "The First Family Detail."

"You don't stop her, you don't approach her, you just let her go in," says the book, based on agents' accounts.

...

"Energizer" reportedly timed her arrivals and departures around Hillary Clinton's schedule.

McMahon has denied in reports having an intimate relationship with Bill Clinton.

The WSJ has the original story and the financial impropriety angle.

The Clinton Global Initiative, which arranges donations to help solve the world’s problems, set up a financial commitment that benefited a for-profit company part-owned by people with ties to the Clintons, including a current and a former Democratic official and a close friend of former President Bill Clinton.

The $2 million commitment was placed on the agenda for a September 2010 conference of the Clinton Global Initiative at Mr. Clinton's urging, according to a document from the period and people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Clinton also personally endorsed the company, Energy Pioneer Solutions Inc., to then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu for a federal grant that year, said people with knowledge of the endorsement.

The company, whose business plan was to insulate people's homes and let them pay via their utility bills, received an $812,000 Energy Department grant. Mr. Chu, now a professor at Stanford University, said he didn’t remember the conversation.

The "charity" is supposed to give to other "charities" engaged in public service -- but this wasn't. This was a privately-owned company engaging in a for-profit scheme.

The WSJ dryly calls such a donation "atypical."

posted by Ace at 12:27 PM

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