Sunday, June 10, 2007
Corruption Hits Hillary Clinton; Will Media Bother to Report Any of It?
Hillary Clinton has been caught in a huge corruption scandal, selling her name and vote for influence while she was First Lady and now a US Senator running for President.
Here is the story in The Times of London - will the US media, daring America to vote this crooked wife of a crook into the White House, bother to air this story? Will anyone notice?
Hillary hit by funds for favours row
Gupta is letting Hillary Clinton use his private jet for which he is barely repaid.
Imagine if this were a Republican presidential candidate. We now have two Democrats - Hillary Clinton and Osama Barama Bananarama - caught up in corruption scandals. And the media could care less.
Sinful. And sickening.
Hillary Clinton has been caught in a huge corruption scandal, selling her name and vote for influence while she was First Lady and now a US Senator running for President.
Here is the story in The Times of London - will the US media, daring America to vote this crooked wife of a crook into the White House, bother to air this story? Will anyone notice?
Hillary hit by funds for favours row
THE frontrunner for the Democrats in the 2008 presidential election, Hillary Clinton, has been hit by a legal dispute in which one of her fundraisers is accused of trying to “ingratiate” himself with powerful friends at the expense of his company. The row has revived accusations of the influence peddling and favours for donors that marred Bill Clinton’s presidency in the 1990s.
For years the Clintons flew on Vinod Gupta’s corporate plane, introduced him to world leaders - including Tony Blair - and received donations for their political campaigns and charitable foundations.
They relaxed at his holiday home in Hawaii - next door to Pierce Brosnan, the former James Bond star - and jetted to Acapulco, the Mexican resort, while Gupta once spent the night as a favoured guest in the Lincoln bedroom at the White House.
“If we’re negotiating with a company, it helps if Bill Clinton says, ‘Oh Vin, he’s a good guy’,” said Gupta in a frank interview with The Sunday Times.
The lawsuit, by company shareholders, accuses Gupta of squandering millions of dollars on his high-profile friends, including $900,000 worth of travel on the Clintons.
Bill Clinton has a $3.3m consulting deal with the company, which the shareholders allege is a “waste of corporate assets”. He has already received $2.1m, with another $1.2m to come.
Interviewed at his office, not far from the White House, Gupta said Bill Clinton’s name and contacts were worth “over $40m” for the company. “We’ve met chief executives, bil-lionaires, government people - it helps us to make connections and do deals. It’s a very competitive world and who you know and which circles you belong to is a big thing.”
Gupta, 60, is the shrewd but genial Indian-born head of InfoUSA, a data marketing firm, and top “Hillraiser” for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Only last week he served as vice-chairman of a glittering fundraising event in Manhattan, which committed him to raise $50,000 in ticket sales for her campaign.
Gupta is letting Hillary Clinton use his private jet for which he is barely repaid.
Imagine if this were a Republican presidential candidate. We now have two Democrats - Hillary Clinton and Osama Barama Bananarama - caught up in corruption scandals. And the media could care less.
Sinful. And sickening.
