The memorandum highlights the crucial role author Douglas Band and his strategy company Teneo played in raising money for the ex-president, as well as for his namesake foundation.
“I have sought to leverage my activities, including my partner role at Teneo, to support and to raise funds for the Foundation,” Band wrote. “This memorandum strives to set forth how I have endeavored to support the Clinton Foundation and President Clinton personally.”
The memo, one of nearly 50,000 emails supposedly stolen from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, states that as of November 2011, Teneo had raised tens of millions for the foundation and produced between $30 million and $66 million in revenue for Bill Clinton through various “business arrangements,” including paid speeches.
The memo came as Chelsea Clinton, taking on a larger role at the Clinton Foundation, began expressing concerns about Band’s activities.
An earlier WikiLeaks dump that also is alleged to have come from Podesta’s hacked email revealed Band once called Chelsea a “spoiled brat.”
In the memo, Band explains how he helped run what he called “Bill Clinton Inc.,” obtaining “in-kind services for the President and his family — for personal travel, hospitality, vacation and the like.”
Band admitted he solicited donations for the foundation from many of his
own top-tier clients at Teneo, including Coca-Cola and Dow Chemical. At
the same time, Band was securing speaking fees for Clinton from some of
the same companies and firms.
Bill Clinton was also a paid adviser to Teneo.
Concerns about overlapping interests between the Clinton Foundation and the Clintons’ personal business interests have haunted Hillary Clinton in her run for the White House.
Many critics believe foundation donors had special access to the State Department while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.
A spokesperson for Teneo told The Hill there was nothing untoward revealed in the memo.
“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,” the spokesperson said. “It also clearly shows that Teneo never received any financial benefit or benefit of any kind from doing so.”
The Clinton campaign has denied that Clinton Foundation donors were given special access to Hillary Clinton or that the nonprofit was used to enrich its founding family.The campaign has refused to confirm whether Podesta’s stolen emails are genuine and has cast doubt on their authenticity.
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