Fewer deep-pocketed donors flocked to the 12th and final annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative this week amid the heightened scrutiny that has accompanied Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid.
Seven corporate donors that sponsored the event in 2014 and 2015 — Coca-Cola, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Blackstone Group, Laureate Education, Monsanto and Standard Chartered Bank — sat out the 2016 meeting, a review of past donor records shows. Other corporations, such as Samsung, ExxonMobil and HSBC, had stepped back from the charity by the time its 11th annual gathering commenced in the heat of last year’s primary race.
As the Clinton Global Initiative prepares to conclude what Bill Clinton has deemed its final meeting on Wednesday, Donald Trump’s campaign is seizing on the controversial gathering as a symbol of all the conflicts that plagued Hillary Clinton’s time at the State Department.
Bill Clinton acknowledged the firestorm that has threatened to eclipse the work of his eponymous foundation, admitting “it would impossible” to hold another Clinton Global Initiative meeting if his wife wins the election.
“If she was actually the president, it would raise too many questions. I think it’s fair,” Bill Clinton told CNBC Tuesday from the site of the Clinton Global Initiative gathering in Manhattan.
Hillary Clinton, a familiar face at past meetings, was noticeably absent. So, too, was President Obama, a past attendee who skipped the event this year for the United Nations General Assembly meeting just a few blocks away.
Dozens of Clinton Global Initiative employees learned this week that they would be laid off by the end of the year, according to a report by Politico. However, some staff members will remain onboard to shepherd some of the largest projects to completion, an arrangement that could prevent Hillary Clinton from putting controversy over the charity to rest.
The Clinton Global Initiative has drawn criticism in the past over its atypical method of operation. Instead of issuing traditional grants to groups in need, the Clinton Global Initiative’s primary function is to convene powerful figures from the business, political or entertainment worlds and encourage them to pledge contributions for future projects called “commitments.”
However, the group’s most recent philanthropic portfolio indicates fewer than half of the thousands of commitments made since 2005 have ever been completed.
The charity’s financial structure has also raised eyebrows, since most direct contributions go toward the annual meeting or salaries rather than philanthropy.
Clinton Foundation officials have downplayed the disparity by arguing most of its charity work is performed in-house by members of its staff, according to FactCheck.org.
Before and after Hillary Clinton’s State Department tenure, the Clinton Global Initiative operated within the Clinton Foundation umbrella.
During her time in office, the initiative was spun off into an independent group through an agreement with the White House that was designed to minimize potential conflicts of interest. The arrangement forced the Clinton Global Initiative to file tax returns separately from the rest of the Clinton Foundation.
But the foundation does not disclose the returns filed by the Clinton Global Initiative during those years on its website. The returns can only be accessed on third-party databases, such as ProPublica.
The Clinton Global Initiative filings show the enormous amounts of money that went into its glitzy annual gatherings.
For example, the organization issued $185,757 in charitable grants to U.S. groups and $8,500 to foreign groups in 2010.
It spent more than three times that on travel expenses alone, shelling out $647,226 for travel in 2010.
The Clinton Global Initiative’s “conferences, conventions and meetings” took up $7,570,161 that year, or roughly half of the $14.7 million total expenses the charity incurred. Much of the remaining funds were spent on salaries and benefits.
Bill Clinton has vowed to reject foreign and corporate donations to the Clinton Foundation should his wife win the presidency in November.
However, he has agreed to shutter the Clinton Global Initiative regardless of the outcome on Election Day.
Critics have blasted the foundation for continuing to rake in contributions during the presidential race; Trump’s campaign and its allies have argued the impending conclusion of the Clinton Global Initiative could lead to a “fire sale” of donors cutting checks to the charity before it closes for good.
But the Clinton Global Initiative’s final gathering was marked by a deep sense of satisfaction about the philanthropic work its participants have done in the decade since its inception. Bill Clinton and many of the speakers at the conference vowed to continue their focus on setting and working toward specific charitable goals no matter what course the Clinton Foundation takes in the future.
