تسجيل الدخول

مشاهدة النسخة كاملة : Saudis give $10 Million to Clinton library



من هناك
12-26-2007, 04:43 AM
While millions of people starve around the world, Saudis and others
give millions of dollars directly to the US...

"The royal family of Saudi Arabia gave the Clinton facility in Little
Rock about $10 million, roughly the same amount it gave toward the
presidential library of George H.W. Bush, according to people
directly familiar with the contributions."

...

"Bush's large foreign donors include Kuwait, Japan, Oman and the
United Arab Emirates. The family of Bandar bin Sultan, former Saudi
ambassador to the United States, contributed $1 million or more.
Carter's donors include the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia."

...

"The Post confirmed numerous seven-figure donors to the library
through interviews and tax records of foundations. Several foreign
governments gave at least $1 million, including the Middle Eastern
nations of Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the
governments of Taiwan and Brunei."

=====


Clinton Library Got Funds From Abroad
Saudis Said to Have Given $10 Million


By John Solomon and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, December 15, 2007; A03

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121402124_pf.html

Bill Clinton's presidential library raised more than 10 percent of
the cost of its $165 million facility from foreign sources, with the
most generous overseas donation coming from Saudi Arabia, according
to interviews yesterday.

The royal family of Saudi Arabia gave the Clinton facility in Little
Rock about $10 million, roughly the same amount it gave toward the
presidential library of George H.W. Bush, according to people
directly familiar with the contributions.

The presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has
for months faced questions about the source of the money for her
husband's presidential library. During a September debate, moderator
Tim Russert asked the senator whether her husband would release a
donor list. Clinton said she was sure her husband would "be happy to
consider that," though the former president later declined to provide
a list of donors.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has made an issue of the large yet
unidentified contributors to presidential libraries, saying that he
wants to avoid even the appearance of impropriety in such donations.
Obama has introduced legislation that would require disclosure of all
contributions to presidential libraries, including Clinton's, and
Congress has actively debated such a proposal. Unlike campaign
donations, money given to presidential libraries is often done with
limited or no disclosure.

The Clinton library has steadfastly declined to reveal its donors,
saying they were promised confidentiality. The William J. Clinton
Foundation, which funds the library, is considered a charity whose
contributors can remain anonymous.

In response to questions from The Washington Post, the foundation
reiterated that it would not discuss specific sizes or sources of
donations to honor the commitment it made to donors. But it
acknowledged that some of the money Clinton received from the library
came from foreign sources.

"As president, he was beloved around the world, so it should come as
no surprise that there has been an outpouring of financial support
from around the world to sustain his post-presidential work," a
foundation statement said.

Bill Clinton has solicited donations for the library personally,
aides said, but he also delegated much of the fundraising to others,
especially Terence R. McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic
National Committee and the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential
campaign. The foundation statement stressed that he has turned over
the facility to taxpayers, as other former presidents have.

A handful of major donors' names to the Clinton library were
disclosed in 2004 when a New York Sun reporter accessed a public
computer terminal at the library that provided a list of donors. Soon
after the article appeared, the list of donors was removed.

The amount of the contribution from Saudi Arabia and several other
countries, as well as the percentage of the total given by
foreigners, had not been revealed.

The Post confirmed numerous seven-figure donors to the library
through interviews and tax records of foundations. Several foreign
governments gave at least $1 million, including the Middle Eastern
nations of Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the
governments of Taiwan and Brunei.

In addition, a handful of Middle Eastern business executives and
officials also gave at least $1 million each, according to the
interviews. They include Saudi businessmen Abdullah al-Dabbagh,
Nasser al-Rashid and Walid Juffali, as well as Issam Fares, a U.S.
citizen who previously served as deputy prime minister of Lebanon.

Spokesmen for Kuwait and Taiwan confirmed that each government has
given the library $1 million. Both governments also donated to other
presidential libraries. Kuwait contributed at least $1 million to the
library of former president George H.W. Bush, and Taiwan gave $2
million to the Ronald Reagan library.

Calls to the other governments were not returned, and the Middle
Eastern individuals could not be located for comment.

Jack Kuei, a press officer for Taiwan in Washington, said his
government's donation "is a way to promote a mutual understanding and
it's a kind of public diplomacy." Kuwaiti counselor Jasem Albudaiwi
called his nation's contribution "a friendly donation from the people
and the government of Kuwait to the cause of the library."

The Reagan library does not disclose its donors, a spokeswoman said.
The Bush and Jimmy Carter libraries have made a very broad
disclosure. Except for a few donors who asked to remain anonymous,
the Bush contributors have been named publicly, and the names of the
largest among them are either chiseled into a wall or onto the bricks
of a walkway at the library in Texas. The Carter library also has a
wall of founders.

Bush's large foreign donors include Kuwait, Japan, Oman and the
United Arab Emirates. The family of Bandar bin Sultan, former Saudi
ambassador to the United States, contributed $1 million or more.
Carter's donors include the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

Clinton has been criticized for asking for donations, including from
Saudi Arabia, at questionable moments. In an op-ed column in the Wall
Street Journal last year, former FBI director Louis J. Freeh said
Clinton "hit up [Saudi Arabia's head of state] Prince Abdullah for a
contribution to his library" during a meeting in which Freeh wanted
Clinton to ask about the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. Clinton has
publicly disputed Freeh's account.

Clinton has also been challenged by members of Congress for accepting
a reported $450,000 donation to his library from the former wife of
fugitive financier Marc Rich before he granted Rich a pardon for tax
evasion in 2001. Neither Clinton nor the Rich family confirmed the
donation.

The Clinton Foundation was formed in 1997 soon after Clinton chose
its 30-acre site near downtown Little Rock. The foundation not only
helps to run the library, but it also oversees and finances Clinton's
many policy initiatives.

The library is an imposing glass and metal structure overlooking the
Arkansas River. Also on its landscaped grounds is the University of
Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.

The Clinton library has also received large donations from Americans
and American entities. The Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable Trust
has pledged $4 million, a person familiar with the gift said. The
Wasserman Foundation of Los Angeles has given between $6 million and
$7 million. Casey Wasserman, the foundation's president, has long
been close to Bill Clinton.