Background
This initial
release consists of material from the FBI’s files related to the William J.
Clinton Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The bulk of these
records come from a 2001 FBI investigation into the pardon of Marc Rich
(1934-2013), aka Marcell David Reich, by President Clinton in 2001; it was
closed in 2005. The material is heavily redacted due to personal privacy
protections and grand jury secrecy rules.
FBI
Release of material, October 31, 2016 [129 Pages, 13.9MB]
The Clinton Foundation – Additional Information
The Clinton
Foundation (founded in 1997 as the William J. Clinton Foundation), and
called beginning in 2013 the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation is
a nonprofit corporation under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was
established by former President of the United States Bill Clinton with the
stated mission to “strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and
throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.”
Its offices are located in New York City and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Through 2016
the foundation had raised an estimated $2 billion from U.S. corporations,
foreign governments and corporations, political donors, and various other
groups and individuals. The acceptance of funds from wealthy donors has
been a source of controversy. The foundation “has won accolades from
philanthropy experts and has drawn bipartisan support”.
Charitable
grants are not a major focus of the Clinton Foundation, which instead keeps
most of its money in house and hires staff to carry out its own humanitarian
programs. The charity watchdog group Charity Navigator gave the Foundation
its highest possible rating, four out of four stars, after its customary review
of the Foundation’s financial records and tax statements. A different charity
monitor, CharityWatch, says that 88% of the foundation’s money goes toward its
charitable mission and gave the foundation an A rating for 2016. In 2015, based
on revenue of $223 million and an expense ratio of 12% the foundation spent in
excess of $26 million to complete its mission.
This
foundation is a public organization to which anyone may donate and is distinct
from the Clinton Family Foundation, a private organization for personal
Clinton family philanthropy.
Neither Bill
Clinton, nor his daughter Chelsea Clinton (both board members), draws any
salary or receives any income from the Foundation. When Hillary Clinton was a
board member she received no income from the Foundation either.
(Source: Wikipedia)