Two chief fundraisers for the Clinton Foundation pressed
corporate donors to steer business opportunities to former
President Bill Clinton as well, according to a hacked memo
published Wednesday by WikiLeaks.
The November 2011 memo from Douglas Band, at the time a top aide
to Mr. Clinton, outlines extensive fundraising efforts that Mr.
Band and a partner deployed on behalf of the Clinton Foundation and
how that work sometimes translated into large speaking fees and
other paid work for Mr. Clinton.
The memo, part of a cache of emails stolen from Democratic
presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, resurfaces
an issue that she has had a hard time shaking: questions over the
relationship between the Clintons' charity work and their personal
business.
Mr. Band and an associate introduced top corporate executives to
the former president, on the golf course and elsewhere, and then
asked them to contribute money to the Clinton Foundation or attend
the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual foundation event.
Mr. Band wrote the memo to lawyers at Simpson Thacher &
Bartlett LLP who were reviewing the Clinton Foundation's activities
and links to Mr. Band. The Clintons' daughter, Chelsea, had sought
the review because she worried that Mr. Band was "hustling
business" for his consulting firm, Teneo Holdings, at the Clinton
Global Initiative, according to a 2011 email by Ms. Clinton.
In the memo, Mr. Band explained how he helped the foundation and
former president, and found donors among his own firm's clients.
Mr. Band responded to the review by writing: "We appreciate the
unorthodox nature of our roles, and the goal of seeking ways to
ensure we are implementing best practices to protect the 501(c)3
status of the Foundation."
The Clinton campaign has refused to confirm or deny the
authenticity of any of the hacked emails and, along with top U.S.
intelligence officials, blamed Russia for stealing them from the
account of Mrs. Clinton campaign manager John Podesta.
In 2009, according to the memo, Declan Kelly, an Irish-American
businessman and ally of the Clintons, introduced a senior UBS Group
AG executive, Bob McCann, to Mr. Clinton at a charitable event.
"Mr. Kelly subsequently asked Mr. Mccann to support the foundation
… [and] also encouraged Mr. Mccann to invite President Clinton to
give several paid speeches, which he has done," according to the
12-page memo. Mr. Clinton earned $1.5 million from those
speeches.
UBS said last year that the speeches by Mr. Clinton and the
donations were part of a program to respond to the 2008 financial
crisis. Former President George W. Bush also spoke to the Swiss
bank as part of the program.
In another example, Mr. Band wrote that he and another Clinton
aide persuaded a Dubai-based company, Gems Education, to establish
a relationship with the foundation. "That relationship has grown
into a business relationship for President Clinton and a donor
relationship for CGI," the memo said. Representatives of Gems
couldn't be reached for comment.
Messrs. Band and Kelly launched their consulting firm in 2011.
By that November, partners of Teneo had raised more than $8 million
for the Clinton Foundation and also arranged for Mr. Clinton to
deliver more than $3 million worth of paid speeches, according to
the memo.
A spokesman for Mr. Clinton didn't immediately respond to a
request for comment. After a falling out with Chelsea Clinton,
starting in 2012, Mr. Band no longer works for the former president
and isn't as involved in Clinton Foundation activities as he once
had been.
Teneo spokesman Stephen Meahl said in a statement: "As the memo
demonstrates, Teneo worked to encourage clients, where appropriate,
to support the Clinton Foundation because of the good work that it
does around the world." He added, "It also clearly shows that Teneo
never received any financial benefit or benefit of any kind from
doing so."
When he founded Teneo, Mr. Kelly was serving as the U.S.
economic envoy to Northern Ireland, appointed by Mrs. Clinton, who
was secretary of state. A public-relations specialist, he also had
been a top fundraiser in her bids for the Senate and, in 2008, the
White House.
Mr. Kelly had three major clients in 2009, Coca-Cola Co., Dow
Chemical Co. and UBS Wealth Management. He asked all three to give
money to the Clinton Foundation.
The memo said that Mr. Kelly introduced Mr. Clinton to Muhtar
Kent, the chief executive of Coca-Cola, during a meeting at Mr.
Clinton's home in Washington in 2009. Mr. Kelly asked Mr. Kent to
give $5 million to the foundation, which he pledged in early 2010,
the memo said.
The memo said that Mr. Kelly arranged for Mr. Band to serve on
Coke's International Public Policy Advisory Board. Mr. Band said in
the memo that he then used that post to push Coke to sponsor
foundation initiatives and to support political candidates whom Mr.
Clinton was supporting.
A Coke spokesman said the board didn't engage in political
activities.
Teneo, which markets itself as a one-stop shop for CEOs to get
advice on a wide range of issues, including mergers and
acquisitions, handling crises and managing public relations, has
grown to more than 575 employees. The Wall Street Journal reported
last month that Teneo was exploring an initial public offering or
sale of the firm as early as 2017.
Mr. Clinton initially served as Teneo's honorary chairman when
the firm opened in 2011, but he stepped down the following year. Of
the $3 million he stood to collect, he was ultimately paid
$100,000.
In the memo, Mr. Band explains that he frequently negotiated
personal income for Mr. Clinton at the same time that he served as
a primary fundraiser for the Clinton Foundation. Mr. Band wrote
that he and another aide to Mr. Clinton "have in effect served as
agents, lawyers, managers and implementers to secure speaking,
business and advisory service deals."
Mr. Band said they had secured "more than $50 million in
for-profit activity" for Mr. Clinton but received no fee or cut of
it. The two aides also arranged another $66 million of potential
future payments from speaking and other engagements for the former
president.
Teneo regularly used its access to Mr. Clinton to introduce its
clients to the former president. In 2009, Mr. Kelly invited one of
his longtime clients, Dow Chemical Chief Executive Andrew Liveris,
to play golf with Mr. Clinton and Mr. Band. Afterward, Dow paid
$500,000 as a sponsor of the Clinton Global Initiative. Dow also
paid another $150,000 to the Foundation to have Mr. Clinton attend
a dinner the chemicals company was hosting in Davos.
The memo says Mr. Liveris provided Dow Chemical's corporate
plane to fly Mr. Clinton and his staff from California to North
Korea, and back, saving the foundation more than $100,000.
A Dow spokeswoman said that the company's senior executives have
participated in Clinton Global Initiative events because their
efforts are aligned with aspects of Dow's business.
Teneo's proximity to the Clintons appears to have been mutually
beneficial. Mr. Band notes that Gems Education became a Teneo
client after the company sought Mr. Clinton's services as an
adviser.
The charitable arm of Gems has given the Clinton Foundation
between $1 million and $5 million. The for-profit education company
has paid Bill Clinton about $6.2 million since 2010 for consulting
work, according to tax returns released by the campaign of Mrs.
Clinton.
Write to Anupreeta Das at anupreeta.das@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 27, 2016 02:15 ET (06:15 GMT)
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