by Lady Michelle-Jennifer Santos, Chief Visionary Founder & Owner
April 17, 2014 (TSR) – Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton misused her position “as a powerful ally” for airplane manufacturer Boeing, advocating for foreign countries to purchase their airplanes or soliciting sizable donations from the company for William J. Clinton Foundation, The Washington Post revealed.
During her tenure as Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton had hindered her department from soliciting directly the aerospace corporation, all contacts having to go through her.
In October 2009, on an official visit to Russia, Clinton made—in her words—a “shameless pitch” for state-controlled airline Rosavia to buy Boeing planes. The push was part of a larger effort by the Obama administration to double exports from the U.S., and Boeing is already the country’s largest exporter.
Clinton had also visited the company installations in China and had coincidentally obtained $ 2 million for the construction of the U.S. expo pavilion at the Beijing Olympics.
State Department officials ruled out soliciting Boeing and other large firms with significant business relationships with the government. The list also included banks that had received federal bailouts.
“About half of [the names on the list] came back with an ‘X’ through it,” Winslow said. “Boeing was one of them. We weren’t even allowed to talk to them.”
Agency lawyers had nixed Boeing out of concern that the department’s work lobbying for the company’s interests overseas could present the appearance of a conflict of interest, said a former agency official familiar with the decision.
After an appeal, it was ruled that the expo effort could accept donations from Boeing, but only up to $1 million. Later, for reasons unknown, that cap was raised and Boeing donated $2 million.
A State Department spokesman did not illuminate exactly how these decisions were arrived at, but told the Post that donors like Boeing were “appropriately vetted and approved for participation at the 2010 Shanghai Expo, end of story.”
In 2010, two months after signing a $ 3.7 billion contract with Russia, Boeing was seen donating 900,000 dollars to the William J. Clinton Foundation.
Today, the company would appear to be the main “Ready for Hillary” contributor, the fund paving the way for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign.
