Bill Clinton praised the work of his signature charitable organization, the Clinton Global Initiative, at the conclusion of its final meeting in New York City Wednesday.
“CGI worked out better than I ever dreamed thanks to you,” Clinton told the audience of donors at the group’s glitzy annual gathering.
The former president called his work with the Clinton Foundation “one of the great honors of my life” in an emotional speech that had been hailed as a response to criticism of his charity’s ties to corporate and foreign interests that could conflict with the political ambitions of his wife.
Bill Clinton reflected on his work around the world, including his travel to New Orleans in the wake of Hurrican Katrina and Cambodia to visit victims of AIDS. His foundation touted the thousands of projects donors have undertaken since the Clinton Global Initiative convened its first meeting in 2005, claiming their “commitments” had helped 435 million people in 180 countries.
“It’s kind of a crazy time,” Bill Clinton said of unspecified recent “headlines.”
“The good news about what’s going on in the world is a hard sell today,” he added.
An emotional video highlighting the group’s work throughout the years featured past appearances by well-known figures such as Stephen Colbert, President Obama, Condoleezza Rice and Mitt Romney.
The politicians and executives that graced the stage at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting this year highlighted the potential conflicts that could arise if the family of a U.S. president presided over such a moneyed cabal.
From top brass at corporations like Cisco, Procter & Gamble and Morgan Stanley, to foreign leaders from Italy, Argentina and England, the mix of business and international interests would prove politically toxic to any administration. The Clinton Global Initiative has already cast a pall over Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Donald Trump’s rapid response team blasted out a series of negative stories about the Clinton Foundation in six different emails during Bill Clinton’s speech. Trump’s campaign highlighted stories about the intersection of State Department and foundation work that have plagued Clinton’s campaign since before it began.
Bill Clinton had vowed to shutter the Clinton Global Initiative regardless of his wife’s fate in November and to curtail severely the foundation’s acceptance of contributions if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency.
The Clinton Foundation and its reliance on the same network of donors that supported both Clintons on the national stage has emerged as one of the longest and most damaging narratives surrounding Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
As she struggles to overcome the perception that she can’t be trusted, Hillary Clinton has avoided confronting questions about the special access foundation donors were granted at the State Department while she served as secretary of state.
For example, 194 of the 511 appointments that fell under Hillary Clinton’s purview at the agency went to donors to the foundation or to her campaigns.
Major donors had already begun to step back from the Clinton Global Initiative this year amid the controversy that Hillary Clinton’s campaign has brought to the charity.
