Washington: Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Tuesday said if she wins on November 8, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, should not have to resign from the Clinton Foundation, an organisation mired in controversy over donations received while she was the Secretary of State.
“I don’t think there are conflicts of interest,” EFE news quoted Clinton as saying.
Last month, after additional documents on Clinton’s 2009-2013 tenure at the State Department were released, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for the Clinton Foundation to be closed and the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate potential conflicts of interest centred on Clinton’s different roles.
Documents released by the conservative group Judicial Watch showed that a number of prominent people who had made contributions to the Clinton Foundation sought favours from the State Department.
In one instance, U2 frontman Bono requested assistance from the State Department to broadcast one of the group’s concerts live to the International Space Station, and in another case an executive requested support in obtaining a US visa for an unidentified British soccer player who had a criminal record.
“I feel very good about the work of the foundation. I feel very good about my service as the Secretary of State. No decision I ever made was influenced by anybody,” Clinton said.
“What I made a decision based on was what was good for the US, what was good for our values, our interests, and our security.”
As the controversy grew, Bill Clinton sent an e-mail to supporters saying that if his wife was elected President, he would resign from the foundation’s board and the group would cease to accept donations from foreign governments and businesses.
Clinton left the foundation’s board a year ago.
Since 2001, the Clinton Foundation has raised funds from private sources to invest in development projects.
–IANS