The Clinton Foundation confirmed Thursday that it received as much as $26.4 million in previously unreported payments from foreign governments and corporations for speeches given by the Clintons.
It’s the latest in a string of admissions from the foundation that it didn’t always abide by a 2008 ethics agreement to disclose its funding sources publicly. That agreement, penned as Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, is certain to continue the headache that the foundation’s work and donors have become for Clinton as she makes another run at the White House.
The Washington Post first reported the news that, since 2002, Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton gave 97 speeches benefiting the foundation, earning anywhere from $10,000 to $1 million dollars in fees.
Former President Clinton was the biggest earner for speeches, giving three that brought in anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million.
Both he and his wife gave a smattering of speeches to foreign companies and other organizations for anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000. Bill Clinton spoke to Thailand’s Ministry of Energy, China Real Estate Development Group, Ltd, and Qatar First Investment Bank; Hillary Clinton spoke to Goldman Sachs, Citibank and JP Morgan Chase, among others.
According to foundation officials, the income – at least $12 million and as much as more than twice that – was not disclosed publicly because it was considered and tallied for tax purposes as revenue, rather than donations.
In April, the head of a Canadian charity that donates to the foundation acknowledged that it didn’t disclose any of the 1,100 largely foreign donors that ultimately contributed $2.35 million to the broader organization through the Canadian group.
That month, foundation acting CEO Maura Pally acknowledged “mistakes” in the organization’s tax filings, which she said “mistakenly combined” government grants with other donations.
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The foundation has now provided a listing of the speeches and a range for the amount each earned on its website, and says it will continue posting updates quarterly, beginning in July.
In responding to the latest inquiry on the foundation’s income, officials flagged a number of third-party reports rating the foundation highly on its transparency – a signal that Clinton and her allies see a need to push back hard on lingering questions surrounding the charity’s work.
And Clinton Foundation spokesman Craig Minassian defended its disclosure policies on Thursday, saying the organization has gone “above and beyond” other charities with its transparency efforts.
“In addition to the more than 300,000 donors who are all listed on our website, posting these speeches is just another example of how our disclosure policies go above and beyond what’s required of charities,” he said.
“This funding allows the foundation to effectively and efficiently use our resources to implement programs that are fighting HIV/AIDS and childhood obesity, increasing opportunity for women and girls, lifting people out of poverty and combating climate change.”
Thursday’s news comes on the heels of the Clintons’ disclosure last week that the couple made more than $30 million since January of 2014, much of that from paid speeches, which earned them $25.3 million during that period.
