The Republican National Committee is gearing up to go after Bill Clinton’s half-brother, Roger, with questions about a house purchased in California for $875,000, according to a memo first obtained by ABC News.
The memo takes a keen interest in longtime Clinton aide, Justin Cooper.
“Cooper is Bill Clinton’s body man turned wheeler-dealer. He’s gone from making a modest salary working in the White House to setting up an LLC just to buy a home for the president’s brother to live in,” the memo said.
“But how and why has he suddenly become Roger Clinton’s real estate agent and financier? Why would Cooper, despite living in Manhattan, be the one to purchase a home in California that was intended as someone else’s residence? And how did he get the money to do it?” it asked.
The home purchase was made via a limited liability corporation. It also took place when Roger Clinton was struggling with back taxes, ABC noted.
Though the RNC memo raises questions about the purchase, it does not allege any wrongdoing on the part of either Cooper or Clinton.
ABC reported, “Despite the questions the memo raises, it appears that Cooper does not own the house … and never did. Cooper served as a principal of Calle Mayor LLC, the limited liability company that purchased the home.”
“A source familiar with the arrangement says the home is now held in a trust for which Bill and Chelsea Clinton are the trustees,” the report added. “Before the trust, the ownership was structured as a limited liability corporation. Cooper simply filed the papers, but it was Bill Clinton who paid for the property.”
The RNC memo also tied Cooper to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s email scandal.
Cooper registered a domain name connected to Clinton private email server, “and held several private email addresses connected to the Clinton’s personal setup,” ABC noted.
“Cooper, who testified before the House Oversight Committee on his role with Clinton’s server, told lawmakers he became involved in Clinton’s server as she transitioned to the State Department from the Senate in 2009, and discussed the setup of the system,” it noted.
Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, praised Cooper for his testimony.
