It has always been apparent to me that the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation was a poorly disguised vehicle for bribery, kickbacks, and political operations, all under the guise of tax-deductible fundraising.  A veneer of do-gooderism, adopting popular racially correct causes like AIDS treatment and relief for Haitians, would suffice to denounce any queries into the real nature of the money pot as harming sacred victim groups.

But somehow or other, the usual Clinton immunity has worn off – perhaps because, as Ed Klein alleges, the Obama machine is covertly sabotaging Hillary’s attempt to seize back control of the Democratic Party.  Or maybe it is the contrast between Hillary’s screech and cackle and the mellow geniality of her husband.  Or it might just be Clinton Fatigue.  Whatever the reason, the media and activists are calling out some of the questionable practices associated with the B,H&CCF.  Consider the spectacle of Haitians picketing the New York offices of the slush fund.  The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Haitian activists protested outside of the Clinton Foundation in New York over the loss of “billions of dollars” that was meant to help rebuild after the devastating 2010 earthquake.

The activists are claiming the money was stolen through the Haiti Reconstruction Commission that was headed by Bill Clinton. In January 2015, the Clinton Foundation was the target of protests for wasting more than $10 billion and awarding contracts to non-Haitian companies.

The activists also said Haiti as a cover for foreign governments to funnel kickbacks of hundreds of millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation. They believe that this was done for favors that Hillary was doing for the foreign governments while she was Secretary of State.

“We are telling the world of the crimes that Bill and Hillary Clinton are responsible for in Haiti,” said Dhoud Andre of the Committee Against Dictatorship in Haiti. “And we are telling the American people that the over 32,000 emails that Hillary Clinton said she deleted have evidence of the crimes they have committed.”

I allow that there may be more than a hint of exaggeration here, but it still looks terrible to have some of the world’s poorest and most beleaguered people denouncing you for exploiting their misery and stealing money intended for earthquake relief.  And sure enough, the lot of Haitians doesn’t seem to have improved much despite all the money raised for them under the aegis of President Clinton – and George W. Bush, but at least there is no George, Laura, Barbara and Jenna Bush Foundation raising hundreds of millions of dollars from questionable sources while Laura prepares a run for the presidency. 

Even worse, although the demonstrators don’t seem to have mentioned it, there is what looks like actual hanky-panky involving Hillary’s family, the foundation, and a seemingly corrupt and environmentally harmful deal.  Covered in the Washington Post, where all the right people will see it!

Tony Rodham, “a former repo man, prison guard and private detective,” as the Post notes, attended an event at the Clinton Global Initiative and happened to meet a Haitian wheeler-dealer (who had paid $20 grand to attend).  Rodham signed up as a member of the advisory board of a proposed gold mine in Haiti.  Kevin Sullivan and Rosalind S. Helderman report:

Rodham joined the board in October 2013, nine months after Hillary Clinton stepped down as secretary of state. Viard said he put Rodham on the board not because of his family connections, but because he worked for a firm, Gulf Coast Funds Management, that had access to ­investors.

Right.  A real captain of finance, he.  That stint as a prison guard really paid off.  Except that he has not brought any investment to the project.

In December 2012, VCS won one of the first two gold-mining permits the Haitian government had issued in more than 50 years. The project was immediately slammed by members of the Haitian Senate, who called it a potential environmental disaster and “a waste of resources.” The backlash caused the government to put the permits on hold.

Viard stressed that Rodham was not involved in the effort to win the permit from the Haitian government, which was granted months before Rodham joined the board.

He said Rodham was compensated with stock options that will not vest unless the project is a success. 

So Rodham, the brother of an anticipated future POTUS, gets rich if the Haitian government hangs tough and allows the project to go forward.  Nothing to see here, move along.

Of course, everyone is denying any possible connections.  But it just looks really, really bad.  And life isn’t getting any better for those Haitians, despite all the grand talk, glittering forums, and serious expressions of concern that the billions of dollars the B,H&CCF has mobilized, the portions coming from Americans deducted from taxable income.