A Daily Caller News Foundation investigation reveals that Bill and Hillary Clinton received at least $100 million from autocratic Persian Gulf states and their leaders, potentially undermining Democratic presidential candidate Hillary’s claim she can carry out independent Middle East policies.
Daily Caller As a presidential candidate, the amount of foreign cash the Clintons have amassed from the Persian Gulf states is “simply unprecedented,” says national security analyst Patrick Poole. “These regimes are buying access. You’ve got the Saudis. You’ve got the Kuwaitis, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. There are massive conflicts of interest. It’s beyond comprehension,” Poole told TheDCNF in an interview.
Overall, the Clinton Foundation has received upwards of $85 million in donations just from five Persian Gulf states and their monarchs, according to the foundation’s website. Activist groups have charged the five states — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — have committed numerous human rights abuses.
The ongoing Clinton financial relationship with despotic Persian Gulf states could hurt Hillary as a supporter of labor rights and tarnish her image as a vigorous supporter of women. Yet as secretary of state, Clinton consciously and actively sought to legitimize the sheikdoms through many new Department of State programs.
It’s unclear what kind of promises or concessions the Clintons may have given the monarchs in return for their lavish financial support over the years, but last month the candidate reversed her long-standing support for fracking.
For years, the accusations have centered on the Persian Gulf practice of importing hundreds of thousands of poor foreign laborers who work for low wages, including hundreds of thousands of female “domestic workers” who have no labor rights and often face exploitation and sexual abuse.
Hillary’s new position, unveiled last month at a CNN presidential debate with Democratic opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders, put her in alignment with the Gulf State policy which opposes North American oil and gas fracking.
Clinton also could be doing the bidding for the Gulf States on domestic issues. As previously stated, she recently reversed her support for fracking and announced her opposition to it. Hydraulic fracturing of shale has turned the United States from an importer of oil and gas to an exporter, which threatens oil producing states, but particularly oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and the gulf states.
The FBI has reportedly launched a second investigation of the former secretary looking into “political corruption” and is seeking evidence where former Secretary Clinton may have offered official government favors to foundation donors.
Most troubling for Hillary, however, could be Bill’s personal, five-year business partnership with Dubai’s authoritarian ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin-Rashid al-Maktoum and his overall friendship with the rulers of the United Arab Emirates — a confederation of states that includes Dubai.
When Bill personally wooed bin-Rashid to join him as a business partner through his Dubai Investment Group, the sheikh was the crown prince of Dubai. He now is the undisputed ruler of Dubai and the prime minister of the UAE. The former president allegedly received another $20 million of “walking away money” to leave the partnership, according to The Daily Beast.
The Clinton Foundation’s ties go beyond support from governments. Four billionaire Saudis, along with groups the Dubai Foundation and Friends of Saudi Arabia, contributed another $30 million to the Clinton Foundation, according to the foundation’s website.
When she was secretary of state, Hillary also strengthened the Clinton-UAE relationship. The State Department approved Bill’s speaking engagements to the UAE, which delivered $1.1 million to him in speaking fees.
In 2005, Bill personally advised Dubai on the controversial deal where the emirate would own six U.S. ports. The deal was vigorously opposed by intelligence officials who viewed the port as vulnerable to terrorist infiltration.
An Egyptian court sentenced a former top Clinton Foundation employee, Gehed el-Haddad, to life imprisonment in April 2015 for “inciting violence” and supporting an Islamist protest against the military-led ousting of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.
From 2007 to 2012 el-Haddad was a Cairo city director of the Clinton Foundation in Egypt and ran its in-country office as well as directed communications. El-Haddad had a well-known reputation for promoting radical Islam.
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