Bill
Clinton defends his charity's foreign government donors
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[March 09, 2015]
By Zachary Fagenson
MIAMI (Reuters) - Former U.S. president
Bill Clinton on Saturday defended donations his family's charity
receives from foreign governments after renewed criticism that they
would create conflicts of interest should his wife, Hillary Clinton, run
for president.
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Clinton said it was possible to work with foreign governments even
if one disagrees with some things they do, and that it was
acceptable for them to donate to the Clinton Foundation if the
donations are publicly disclosed.
"I think it's a good thing," he said onstage at a youth conference
organized by the foundation at the University of Miami during an
interview with Larry Wilmore, a television talk-show host.
"The UAE gave us money. Do we agree with everything they do? No. But
they help us fight ISIS," he added, using an acronym for the
Islamist militant group Islamic State.
The United Arab Emirates donated between $1 million and $5 million
to the foundation in 2014, according to a list of donors published
on the foundation's website.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/09/images/ads/current/cca_laptop-sda021709.png) It was one of several new foreign governments, including Canada and
Saudi Arabia, that have begun giving to the foundation since Hillary
Clinton, who is on the cusp of announcing a run for the presidency
as a Democrat in 2016, stepped down as U.S. secretary of state two
years ago.
Before she took office in 2009, the Clintons and the Department of
State agreed that foreign governments that already supported the
foundation, such as Oman, Australia and Qatar, could not increase
their contributions, and that no new foreign governments could begin
contributing. Exceptions to this would have to be approved by State
Department ethicists and lawyers, who would check for possible
conflicts of interest.
The Clintons also agreed to annually disclose the names of all new
donors to the foundation, which does charitable and development work
in dozens of countries.
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Hillary Clinton's political opponents say the donations would create
at least an appearance of owed favors that could cloud U.S.
government foreign policy.
"My theory is: disclose everything and let people make their
judgments," Bill Clinton said in the onstage interview.
Hillary Clinton spoke onstage about women's rights before her
husband arrived.
She has faced a week of intense criticism from political opponents,
transparency advocacy groups and some journalists for exclusively
using a private email service during her time as secretary of state.
She addressed neither that nor the criticism about donors in her
remarks.
(Writing by Jonathan Allen; Editing by James Dalgleish)
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