[Politico] A handful of deep-pocketed donors are reconsidering their gifts to the $2 billion Clinton Foundation amid mounting questions about how it's spending their money and suggestions of influence peddling, according to donors and others familiar with the foundation's fundraising.
One major donor who contributed at least $500,000 to the foundation last year said a 2015 donation is less likely because of revelations about sloppy record-keeping and huge payments for travel and administrative costs.
"There are a lot of factors and the reputational is among them," said the donor, who did not want to be identified discussing philanthropic plans that have not been finalized. "We had some questions about how the money was being spent -- and that was long before the problems were in the press."
At least three other major donors also are re-evaluating whether to continue giving large donations to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, according to people familiar with its fundraising.
They say increasing financial pressures and escalating outside scrutiny have sparked sometimes intense internal debates about the priorities and future of a pioneering charitable vehicle that was supposed to cement the family's legacy. |