Clinton Foundation Accused of Having Friends With Benefits

The William J. Clinton Foundation, established after former President Bill Clinton left office in 2001, was renamed the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation in 2013, “in recognition of Secretary Clinton’s and Chelsea’s contributions and to acknowledge their role in shaping the Foundation,” the organization said. Much of the foundation’s work is documented in a 2014 letter, including the Clinton Global Initiative, whose purported mission is to “inspire, connect, and empower everyone to forge solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.”

But reports are surfacing Bill Clinton has a much closer tie to one of the foundation’s donors than the Clintons may want to admit.

The Wall Street Journal published a report Thursday indicating Energy Pioneer Solutions, a firm founded to help defer energy costs for needy homeowners by improving the insulation factors in the homes, was run by Clinton friends and close acquaintances. One such acquaintance is Julie Tauber McMahon, part owner in EPS.

In his 2015 expose’ book, The First Family Detail, Ronald Kessler wrote that McMahon was nicknamed the “Energizer” by Secret Service personnel charged with protecting the former president and his family. According to Joe Tacopino, writing for The New York Post, that term of endearment wasn’t given to the “wealthy blond divorcée” for her bubbling personality as much as it was reportedly a reference to her sexiness and her frequent visits to the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua, N.Y.

“Secret Service agents were even given special instructions to abandon usual protocol when the woman came by,” Tacopino writes. Quoting from Kessler’s book, he writes, “’You don’t stop her, you don’t approach her, you just let her go in.” Although rumors abound, Tacopino writes, McMahon has “denied having an intimate relationship with Bill Clinton.”

But it’s McMahon’s business dealings with the Clintons that have her and her company squarely in the journalistic spotlight.

More #Clinton fraud. Energy Pioneer Solutions laid off most of staff, closed offices, sold a fleet of trucks. pic.twitter.com/MHkWXL4K7a

— idea capitalist (@ideacapitalist) May 13, 2016

James Grimaldi of the Wall Street Journal writes, “The Clinton Global Initiative, which arranges donations to help solve the world’s problems, set up a financial commitment that benefited a for-profit company part-owned by people with ties to the Clintons, including a current and a former Democratic official and a close friend of former President Bill Clinton.”

That financial arrangement amounted to a $2 million funding of the energy company by the Clinton Foundation in 2010, and an $812,000 Energy Department Grant, made possible by Bill Clinton’s personal endorsement of the company to then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu, writes Grimaldi.

Fortune Magazine described the ethical implications of such donations. Chris Matthews writes, “The problem … is that Energy Pioneer Services is owned by friends of the Clintons.” Those friends include Scott Kleeb, a Democrat who twice ran for Congress from Nebraska; Jane Eckert, the owner of a New York art gallery; and McMahon.

While Fortune was quick to point out no laws may have been broken, it said the arrangement may “run afoul” of IRS rules that disallow donations from nonprofits to entities that may benefit private interests.

Responding to the accusations, Clinton Foundation officials told the Wall Street Journal, “President Clinton has forged an amazing universe of relationships and friendships throughout his life that endure to this day, and many of those individuals and friends are involved in CGI Commitments because they share a passion for making a positive impact in the world. As opposed to a conflict of interest, they share a common interest.”

The profitability of the company is also a subject of interest. Grimaldi wrote, “Energy Pioneer Solutions has struggled to operate profitably. It lost more than $300,000 in 2010 and another $300,000 in the first half of 2011, said records submitted for an Energy Department audit. … The audit found deficiencies in how the company accounted for expenses paid with federal grant money, Energy Department records show.“

@WSJ this family has no shame. Worth $400mm and they do stuff like this, imagine their actions back in the White House?!😳

— Count Sinatra (@pthebnyc) May 13, 2016

In an interview this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, said he could have attacked her by pointing to controversy at the Clinton Foundation but he chose to focus on the issues instead. However, it’s highly unlikely Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, will show such mercy. (For more from the author of “Clinton Foundation Accused of Having Friends With Benefits” please click HERE)

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