Daily Caller: At State Department, Cheryl Mills Okayed Deal That Wound Up Putting $500,000 Into Bill Clinton's Filthy Pockets

Did you hear Trump punched a baby right in the pud? Sad!

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton publicly defended an embattled banker during an official visit to Bangladesh while Clinton Foundation officials tried to steer money from an Abu Dhabi oil company into the banker’s coffers.

A Daily Caller News Foundation investigation traced the convoluted payment by TAQA — formally known as the the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company — to Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank. Yunus is a long-time friend and Clinton Foundation donor.

The oil company deal eventually put as much as $500,000 into President Bill Clinton’s pockets via a speaking fee he got in Scotland.

The complicated set of international transactions is contained in a cryptic May 7, 2012, email chain between Cheryl Mills, then Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff, and Amitabh Desai, the Clinton Foundation’s foreign policy director. The email chain was obtained by Citizens United, the conservative activist group that is the lead plaintiff in multiple federal Freedom of Information Act court cases.

TAQA is a huge oil and gas company 74 percent owned by the Abu Dhabi government that operates in 11 countries, including Canada and the United States. The firm in 2010 won the first of three “blanket agreements” with the Obama administration to import billions of cubic feet of natural gas from Canada into the United States.

The Mills-Desai email exchange was not unique. The Department of State estimates the number of emails between Hillary’s top State Department staff and Clinton Foundation officials includes more than 12,000 separate communications....

The emails show foundation officials were trying to complete a deal offered by TAQA managing director Leo Koot in Scotland. He agreed to give $60,000 to the foundation for Bill to speak at a Scotland charity and auction. The winner of the auction was to get a “Special Day with President Bill Clinton in New York.”

The foundation accepted the $60,000, and Bill went to Scotland where he received an additional $250,000 to $500,000 for his speech before a group called “Business For Change,” according to the Foundation’s website. The black tie dinner was to raise funds for Yunus and his Grameen Bank.

Yunus is a long-time friend of the Clinton’s, going back to Bill’s time as governor of Arkansas. He has often been a featured speaker at the annual Clinton Global Initiative celebrity galas in New York. His Grameen America foundation donated between $100,000 to $250,000, according to the Clinton Foundation website.

During Hillary’s tenure as the chief U.S. diplomat, the U.S. Agency for International Development, a State Department division, also awarded millions of grant dollars to Yunus and to his allies. (RELATED: Disgraced Clinton Donor Got $13M In State Dept. Grants Under Hillary)

“Mixing official State Department business and actions with Clinton Foundation fundraising is a huge red flag,” Citizens United President David Bossie told TheDCNF. “What do discussions of foreign donations from the TAQA Group have to do with Hillary Clinton’s official duties as Secretary of State?”

...

“What was the priority for Hillary Clinton’s staff at the State Department?” Bossie asked. “International diplomacy for the American people or international fundraising for her family foundation?”

Remember, Hillary vowed to silence Citizen's United. I wonder why.

posted by Ace at 04:19 PM

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