EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CLINTON'S FINANCIAL EMPIRE

(By Roger Stone) Foreign nationals are banned by law from contributing to American politicians' campaign coffers. They are not, however, banned from contributing to private foundations. According to Ken Thomas of the Washington Post, "Republicans contend that foreign governments donating to a foundation led by a potential U.S. president creates unacceptable conflicts of interest." (1)

The laws that dictate the exclusion of foreign nationals from donating to the campaigns of American politicians, were put there for a reason; to keep foreign influence from dictating U.S. foreign policy.

The constitutional ban on foreign cash payments to U.S. officials is known as the Emoluments Clause and originated from Article VI of the Articles of Confederation. The text of the clause:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. (Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution).

The Clinton's have always pushed legal and ethical boundaries when it came to campaign donations. One only has to look back to the Clinton's many scandals starting with what was called "Whitewater" back when Mr. Clinton was Attorney General and Governor of Arkansas to current times. But here are two from the last decade. In the summer of 2007, Hillary was forced to return almost $900,000 from fundraisers Norman Hsu, Johnny Chung, and Charlie Tree all convicted of illegal campaign fundraising. In Federal Grand Jury proceedings, Johnny Chung testified that "the White House was like a subway turnstile, you put the money in, and you get in."

In 1997, a story appeared both in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, that "hundreds of thousands of dollars flowed into the Clinton Campaign from Chinese dishwashers who donated $1,000.00 each."(2) (3) The only problem was that when the Los Angeles Times investigated these dishwashers, it became apparent that most of them either didn't exist, or that they had no idea they had donated to the Clinton's. The fundraising illegalities were so extensive that according to U.S. News and World Report senior writer Michael Barone "120 people either fled the country in order to avoid being interrogated by investigators, plead the fifth amendment, or otherwise avoided questions." "Fourteen guilty pleas came out of that." "What this shows is that at the very least the Clinton campaign is guilty of not using due diligence in vetting out suspicious donations."(4)

Another case shows that Hillary Clinton was directly involved in what the New York Times has called "the biggest campaign finance fraud in the history of the United States." The story, as reported in the Times as well as on CNN goes as follows. Peter F Paul, a Miami lawyer who had been convicted of cocaine possession and fraud, trying to swindle the Cuban government out of $8.7 million, served a 3 year sentence and then moved to Hollywood to make a fresh start for himself as a Hollywood producer and promoter. In February of 2000, Paul met with Hollywood charity fundraiser Aaron Tonken who happened to be one of the Clinton's top money contacts in Hollywood. Tonkin admittedly was obsessed with celebrities.

In meetings with Hillary Clinton, Tonkin offered a deal. In exchange for donations to Hillary's 2000 Senate campaign, Hillary would give Paul access to President Bill Clinton for business opportunities once Clinton left the White House. In taped telephone recordings at a Federal prison, where Paul was serving out his sentence for fundraising scams, he says this, "it was a growing relationship (Hillary's and his) I didn't know where it ultimately would lead, but I suppose not to a good place because all the people that I met around them (the Clintons), that I dealt with in different events, have all gone to prison."