Soul-Searching at Clinton Foundation in Trump Era
By STEVE EDER, SHERI FINK and AMY CHOZICKFEB. 2, 2017
Last summer, former President Bill Clinton pledged that if Hillary Clinton won the presidential election, he would avoid conflicts by stepping aside from many of his duties at the Clinton Foundation, restricting foreign donations to the charity and spinning off certain programs.
Now, nearly three months after Mrs. Clinton’s defeat, the foundation is still grappling with its place in the era of President Trump. It faces some daunting challenges: a drop in fund-raising during the campaign; uncertainty about the scale of the former president’s ambitions; and questions about leadership, including how long its president, Donna E. Shalala, will stay, and whether Mrs. Clinton might rejoin the charity.
Mr. Clinton, in a letter to be released with the foundation’s annual report this week, went so far as to ask supporters for advice on its future. “We seek both your input and your ideas,” he wrote, noting that the organization would work to expand its impact.
Ms. Shalala, in an interview on Thursday, acknowledged the difficulties. “Last year was a tough year,” she said, “because people were beating on us with nonsense,” a reference to bruising political attacks claiming that donors were using the foundation to curry favor with the Clintons.
Revenues were down for 2016, Ms. Shalala acknowledged, in part because of voluntary restrictions and the fact that the charity’s major fund-raisers — the former president and his daughter, Chelsea — were campaigning for Mrs. Clinton. Revenues “dropped during the economic downturn, too,” Ms. Shalala said.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/us/hillary-bill-clinton-foundation.html?emc=edit_th_20170203&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=57435284
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