Report: Clinton Foundation Received Millions As Russians Sought Uranium Deal
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A new report raises questions about donations to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Rodham Clinton served as U.S. secretary of state.
A New York Times report says contributions flowed into the foundation from 2009-13 as the U.S. signed off on a deal that gave a Russian energy agency control over Uranium One, a mining company with significant assets in the United States.
Clinton's State Department was one of the many government agencies that approved the deal because uranium production is a national security asset.
The report says the chairman of Uranium One made four donations to the Clinton Foundation totaling $2.35 million.
The contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, according to the Times, despite an agreement Clinton, now a candidate for president, made with the Obama administration to do so.
The report also says former President Bill Clinton receive $500,000 for a speech from a Russian investment bank that was promoting Uranium One stock.
"The real red flag, the concern is that the secretary of state may have been influenced by her family's business interests," David Birdsell, dean of Baruch College's School of Public Affairs, told CBS2's Dick Brennan. "Even though those are charitable business interests, clearly the foundation wants to attract money and to grow. The question is was there a quid pro quo?"
The revelation comes as a House committee investigating the 2012 attacks on Americans in Benghazi, Libya, says it wants to speak to the former secretary about her email arrangement at the State Department.
Clinton has admitted she used a personal email account while in office. She says she has turned over tens of thousands of pages of work-related emails, withholding only messages that were personal in nature. She also said the use of the private email account was permitted by the State Department.
In the meantime, a new poll could raise worries for the Clinton presidential campaign.
When Quinnipiac University asked people if they believed that Clinton is honest and trustworthy, 54 percent said no. Only 28 percent said yes.
Clinton's backers, however, say none of the controversies will change her position as the Democratic front-runner.
"I think that Hillary is that candidate," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "I think all this other stuff is going to be bumps in the road when you look back on it."
