Global Money Magnets
Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich
By Peter Schweizer
Kyle with a library copy of Clinton Cash
I recently reviewed Laptop from Hell by Miranda Devine. That story of greed and grift in the Biden family reminded me of a book I had read years ago, Clinton Cash written by Peter Schweizer in 2015. While the details of the influence-peddling were different, the motive was the same—greed. Because of the similarities, I retrieved my copy and read it again for this review.
The 243 pages of Clinton Cash show how in countries large and small and in a variety of industries the Clintons have found lucrative opportunities unsavory people as they moved from the Arkansas governorship to the presidency to the Senate and the State Department.
Schweizer doesn’t bother with the minor scandals such as Cattlegate, Whitewater, Travelgate, or Pardongate, although the pardon of Marc Rich is covered. Clinton Cash details the global scandals engaged in by the duo. Someone involved in a deal invites Bill Clinton to make a few speeches with his large fee going to the Clinton Foundation. Then U.S. government agencies remove their objections or change their positions on the venture.
Millions of dollars flowed into the Clinton Foundation from Russian power brokers and oligarchs before the completion of the Uranium One transaction. This left Vladimir Putin with significant control over vast amounts of the world’s uranium supply. However, that is just one of many arrangements that appear to have enriched the Clintons. With connections from Kazakhstan to India and Nigeria to Columbia, they have been global money magnets.
It’s a sad fact that many of the countries the Clinton’s visit possess great mineral wealth and utterly corrupt governments. It doesn’t seem to matter to the Clintons. They have cooperated with dictators using child soldiers, rape, murder, and arbitrary arrest to cling to power. The pattern remains eerily similar. Bill Clinton flies to some location and delivers a speech at the behest of one or more business executives. The Clinton Foundation receives a multi-million-dollar donation. Despite governmental, legal, or other issues, the venture goes through. Did a quid pro quo occur? That’s hard to say with legal certainty.
In 2010 a devastating earthquake hit Haiti, killing more than 200,000 people. Bill Clinton soon arrived in the country. As the United Nations special envoy to Haiti, he oversaw much of the disaster relief that poured in from around the world. Enormous sums of money were spent on a variety of projects and certain, connected companies made huge profits. According to Schweizer, often Clinton directed the aid on his own and ensured that select companies received favorable deals. The people of Haiti remain in wretched poverty and the nation remains the poorest country in the western hemisphere.
The Ericsson telecom company makes a large donation to the Clinton Foundation. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton removed Iran from the list of prohibited trade countries. Ericsson became the telecom supplier for Iran. After a businessman from India channeled millions of dollars to the foundation, India is exempted from provisions of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty
Despite the parallels, there are significant differences between the Clintons and the Bidens. For one thing, from the details provided in these two books, I would say that the Clintons are much better at grift than the Bidens. Clinton Cash shows how Bill and Hillary appear to believe that every situation has a money-making angle to exploit.
Because of this book, my cynicism regarding government grew. The levels of greed and grift are difficult to fathom, but the extensive notes Schweizer provides in the book lent weight to the story and opened my eyes. Like Laptop from Hell, I recommend Americans read this book.
What do you think? Are the Clintons misunderstood or are they a prime example of greed and grift? Let us know in the comment section below.
