A spokesman for Hillary Clinton defended the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate from allegations she awarded a spot on an intelligence committee to a top Clinton Foundation donor.
“This was an unpaid, volunteer advisory board, and one of several foreign policy-focused organizations that he was involved with,” Nick Merrill, press secretary for Clinton, said in a statement about Rajiv Fernando, late Friday.
“As the State Department itself has said, the ISAB [International Security Advisory Board] charter calls for a diverse set of experiences for its members. That’s all there is to it,” Merrill added.
The claim stemmed from State Department emails the media got a hold of Friday morning. Fernando gave nearly $5 million to the foundation in 2011 and was later named to the ISAB board during Clinton’s time as secretary of state despite having no experience holding down a national security position.
