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Reuters: Hacked emails raise possibility of Clinton Foundation ethics breach

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Not

Banned
"Because Trump is worse" will likely be the response you get. Apparently Trump being a horrible person (which he is) makes every bad thing Hillary does null and void.

Fucking IT DOES.

You're going to give this man nukes.
 

manakel

Member
Fucking IT DOES.

You're going to give this man nukes.
I mean, I'm not giving him nukes. Nor am I voting for him. That doesn't mean I can't be critical of Clinton when it calls to be so, instead of just hand waving everything like it's no big deal.
 

Not

Banned
I mean, I'm not giving him nukes. Nor am I voting for him. That doesn't mean I can't be critical of Clinton when it calls to be so, instead of just hand waving everything like it's no big deal.

I'll be critical of her AFTER she's President, thanks very much.

In fact, I'm going to hold her to frikkin' task. Won't be that hard as the supreme-court-justice-appointment-denying and impeachment process and ACTUAL VIOLENT REVOLUTION might start immediately after.
 
Can someone for the love of god please elaborate to someone who has already voted for her why this is nothing?

The agreement said they would disclose when a new country donated or a previous country made a drastic increase in money donated and this was neither so the agreement was not violated.
 
Can someone for the love of god please elaborate to someone who has already voted for her why this is nothing?
The whole premise is that it's problematic because it would supposedly be a "material increase" which would require asking the State Department for approval first, which wasn't done. However, the original story contradicts itself on this immediately and notes that Qatar has made similar large donations in the past, including some over $1 million:
Even if it had, he said he questioned whether the money would be considered a "material increase." He said Qatar has been donating since 2002, and that some of those donations have been greater than $1 million.
Thus, since it wasn't a substantial increase after all, there's no need for approval, since it was already within previous norms. It was within the previous trends for the Qatari government and not an abnormal donation at all. Thus, not a material increase, thus no need for special state department approval, thus no story since the core premise is defeated.

Or if you mean because it's Qatar, it's inherently a negative, I addressed that in my previous post. It's a charity. For fighting disease like malaria and HIV/AIDS and stuff. I don't get who the money is from is relevant in any way. Either way, it's going to a tremendous good and wonderful cause. If they refused it simply because of the source, all that means is that money would stay in Qatar (and likely be used to fuel the human rights abuses and the like instead of being used for good), and less people would be helped. Instead, they accepted the money and people were indeed helped.

I can't see how in any way this can actually be considered "something" at all without an instant negative reaction to anything involving Qatar, Clinton, or the Clinton Foundation. There's nothing here as far as I can see.
 
Can someone for the love of god please elaborate to someone who has already voted for her why this is nothing?

Clinton promised to disclose new or increased donations from foreign governments. Qatar had been giving a million or more since 2002 so the million given here is neither new nor is it increased.
 

Kazaam

Member
So this is less money they can spend to commit those abuses and more going toward charity. I don't get the problem. That kind of blanket mentality benefits no one in any way--refusing just means that they keep their money, no one's helped, and nothing changes regarding those abuses anyway. At least with this some good is done. I don't the benefit of the alternative point of view.

That is an extremely naive way of thinking and has nothing to do with the problem at hand. The reason why this is a problem is that as Secretary of State, in charge of foreign policy, you should not be influenced by foreign governments. Having a state donate to your foundation while you are in that position can bring up issues. Now there are regulations put in front to prevent any kind of bribe, influence or bias and apparently she has breached one of those by not declaring this donation. Now sure this can be nothing but just a slip.. nonetheless it is something to inquire about, no matter how unfortunate the situation is. We and journalism should keep everyone accountable and ask questions no matter how shittier the surrounding is.
It seems tho that people need to make everything about Trump these days, so...
This is why Leona Lewis's anecdote rings so true... unless she's an actual killer, she shouldn't be judge because Trump happened.

EDIT: I also believe that this attitude is also why quite a few people vote Trump. I think that's just silly and naive as well, but doesn't make these kind of reactions less of part of the problem.
 

prag16

Banned
I mean, I'm not giving him nukes. Nor am I voting for him. That doesn't mean I can't be critical of Clinton when it calls to be so, instead of just hand waving everything like it's no big deal.
You must be new to HildawgGaf. Otherwise you wouldn't seem surprised.
 

Chumly

Member
It's hilariously pathetic to see trump supporters desperately try and come up with a fabricated news to create controversy around Hillary. In the name of being "fair" media makes mountains out of molehills.
 
That is an extremely naive way of thinking and has nothing to do with the problem at hand. The reason why this is a problem is that as Secretary of State, in charge of foreign policy, you should not be influenced by foreign governments.
What influence would that be? It's a donation to a charity, not a bribe or a check to her own pocketbooks, and a routine charity donation in line with previous donations from them. How did it influence her exactly? What's the exact accusation here and what is it based on? I mean, that seems like a pretty ineffective bribe--donating to a charity, and only donating within previous norms, not even significantly increasing the donation compared to previous ones. Nothing about the idea makes sense.
 

Seventy70

Member
It's like having two shirts. One is white with a few stains. The other one is made of manure.

Are you saying they are both the same!!11!??!

/s

It's terrible that we have gotten to the point where we, as citizens, can't even paint both candidates as accurately as possible. Sure, Donald Trump is way, way worse than Hillary, but that doesn't mean we should sweep stuff under the rug. If we actually worked to look at every politician as accurately as possible without irrational bias, then maybe we could have much better candidates. I get the feeling that some people choose candidates like sports teams and stay loyal no matter what. I'm not saying that's the case everywhere here, but it's a problem on all sides and it ultimately harms the average citizen. With this election especially, a major reason why both candidates are popular is because of name recognition. This is a massive country with many, many people that could run. We shouldn't be arguing over who is the worse candidate.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
I mean, I'm not giving him nukes. Nor am I voting for him. That doesn't mean I can't be critical of Clinton when it calls to be so, instead of just hand waving everything like it's no big deal.
Criticize her once she's president. That's more productive right now.

What influence would that be? It's a donation to a charity, not a bribe or a check to her own pocketbooks, and a routine charity donation in line with previous donations from them. How did it influence her exactly? What's the exact accusation here and what is it based on?

Yeah, like why would they try to give her dirty money through her charity if they wanted to buy influence (which she doesn't even control anymore), when they could just contribute to SuperPACs instead?
 

Seventy70

Member
well, these are the shirts we have, and we probably won't have the money to buy new shirts until 2024

so put one on

No one here is saying to not put on the least bad one. But, let this also be a lesson for the next time you go shirt shopping that it doesn't have to be this way. The store sells thousands and thousands of shirts. You can absolutely find the near perfect one and it isn't always the most popular brand. However, if you refuse to acknowledge that both shirts are not the best, then you can't learn that lesson.
 

Kazaam

Member
What influence would that be? It's a donation to a charity, not a bribe or a check to her own pocketbooks, and a routine charity donation in line with previous donations from them. How did it influence her exactly? What's the exact accusation here and what is it based on? I mean, that seems like a pretty ineffective bribe--donating to a charity, and only donating within previous norms, not even significantly increasing the donation compared to previous ones. Nothing about the idea makes sense.

What? It's very hard to read tone on this forum so I don't know if you're joking or not. I'll assume you're not with the benefit of looking like a fool.
As a person in charge with foreign policy in a country there would be a lot of influence involved when you accept a donation from a foreign country. When you are in a position of power that conflicts with your own extra work, things change. If you give me Christmas presents at the office because we're colleagues that's ok... but if I'm promoted, I can't accept those gifts anymore. If I do and want to send them to charity I need to check in with HQ just to make sure everyone is aware of it and there's no foul play involved. The problem is not that she received money... is that the foundation did not go through the proper channels and the proper notification process.
 

hawk2025

Member
What? It's very hard to read tone on this forum so I don't know if you're joking or not. I'll assume you're not with the benefit of looking like a fool.
As a person in charge with foreign policy in a country there would be a lot of influence involved when you accept a donation from a foreign country. When you are in a position of power that conflicts with your own extra work, things change. If you give me Christmas presents at the office because we're colleagues that's ok... but if I'm promoted, I can't accept those gifts anymore. If I do and want to send them to charity I need to check in with HQ just to make sure everyone is aware of it and there's no foul play involved. The problem is not that she received money... is that the foundation did not go through the proper channels and the proper notification process.


For the tenth fucking time, yes they did, and there was no increase above the million or so.
 

Kazaam

Member
For the tenth fucking time, yes they did, and there was no increase above the million or so.

I tried to go through this thread from beginning to end to find the sources that said for "9 other fucking times" that they confirmed they did go through the proper channels. What I've found as sources were the original thread post and this quote from Yahoo news

The Clinton Foundation has confirmed it accepted a $1 million gift from Qatar while Hillary Clinton was U.S. secretary of state without informing the State Department, even though she had promised to let the agency review new or significantly increased support from foreign governments.

Qatari officials pledged the money in 2011 to mark the 65th birthday of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton's husband, and sought to meet the former U.S. president in person the following year to present him the check, according to an email from a foundation official to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign chairman, John Podesta. The email, among thousands hacked from Podesta's account, was published last month by WikiLeaks.

Clinton signed an ethics agreement governing her family's globe-straddling foundation in order to become secretary of state in 2009. The agreement was designed to increase transparency to avoid appearances that U.S. foreign policy could be swayed by wealthy donors.

If a new foreign government wished to donate or if an existing foreign-government donor, such as Qatar, wanted to "increase materially" its support of ongoing programs, Clinton promised that the State Department's ethics official would be notified and given a chance to raise any concerns.

We can discredit this article and look further. My whole point was about that... as opposite to simply dismissing it because crooked Hillary is a meme and because Trump exists. If you have sources that state The Clinton Foundation actually went through the proper channels I would be more than happy to read them and to assess further.
 

digdug2k

Member
You are being naive. Foundations are easily abused because they handle lots of money. For the best example, see Trump's foundation.
Just to be clear, the Clinton Foundation is a public charity. The Trump Foundation is a private foundation. They're different. Public charities aren't that easily abused since they're easy to watch. And they are watched. Lots and lots and lots of people (including the independent boards that run them) watch public charities to make sure they're not just abusing the money. That's why there hasn't been a single "The Clinton Foundation uses its money to buy a fancy steak dinner" story this election cycle. Just lots of insinuation that somehow Hillary and Bill can use the charity as their own personal rainy day bank account.

Hillary and Bill make all of their money from books and speaking engagements.
 

kaching

"GAF's biggest wanker"
"Because Trump is worse" will likely be the response you get. Apparently Trump being a horrible person (which he is) makes every bad thing Hillary does null and void.
Actually, the problem isn't Trump so much as it's the fact that "every bad thing" Hillary has done is a list grossly inflated by fanfiction making it so that anyone who might want to honestly discuss whatever legitimately bad things she's done has to spend more time sifting through a pile of fabricated or overblown claims that it's just not worth it. When even Fox News feels compelled to apologize for adding to that pile, you know you've gone too far.
 

msdstc

Incredibly Naive
I mean, I'm not giving him nukes. Nor am I voting for him. That doesn't mean I can't be critical of Clinton when it calls to be so, instead of just hand waving everything like it's no big deal.

Are you saying they are both the same!!11!??!

/s

It's terrible that we have gotten to the point where we, as citizens, can't even paint both candidates as accurately as possible. Sure, Donald Trump is way, way worse than Hillary, but that doesn't mean we should sweep stuff under the rug. If we actually worked to look at every politician as accurately as possible without irrational bias, then maybe we could have much better candidates. I get the feeling that some people choose candidates like sports teams and stay loyal no matter what. I'm not saying that's the case everywhere here, but it's a problem on all sides and it ultimately harms the average citizen. With this election especially, a major reason why both candidates are popular is because of name recognition. This is a massive country with many, many people that could run. We shouldn't be arguing over who is the worse candidate.

Unfortunately this has been the response of the fanbase this whole election since it came down to clinton vs. trump. On one hand I get it, because people really don't want trump, but the blind bias is overwhelming. I see a ton of negative trump stories posted and immediately people are ready to accept it as fact, but anything seedy that comes out about clinton is written off as conspiracy or "wow its fucking nothing". Either way the sentiment has been stressed by a bunch of people, and I've grown tired of the argument. Trump has made people so angry that there is no time for objectivity. So maybe it's a conversation we can have after trump loses. Either way I'm voting for clinton, but she has plenty of question marks for me.
 
not sure if Kim Dotcom is credible but he tweeted this out few hours ago. does anyone think another surprise is coming?

this isn't related to the Huma/Weiner investigation but Clinton server.

https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/with_replies

Clarification:
FBI has NOT deleted the emails.
FBI has the deleted Clinton emails.
Forgive my German English

FBI now has deleted Clinton emails.
FBI has just informed Obama.

To the media:
Ask the White House for comment.
 
DQjH76a.png


Wow $1million!

I'm sure Hillary Clinton would've done anything to get those sweet sweet Qatari oil bucks.
 

riotous

Banned
I still don't get it.

It's a highly rated charity that spends most of it's endowments on good works.

Where is the evidence that this actually means anything for Qatar to donate? How does Hillary benefit from this? How did Qatar benefit?

I'm not some Clinton apologist; I just haven't seen evidence of this foundation being anything but legit.
 
I tried to go through this thread from beginning to end to find the sources that said for "9 other fucking times" that they confirmed they did go through the proper channels. What I've found as sources were the original thread post and this quote from Yahoo news

It's in the OP, it's not that hard to find:

OP said:
The ethics agreement allowed foreign governments that already supported foundation projects to continue while Clinton was at the State Department. However, if one of those governments wanted to "increase materially its commitment," then the foundation was required to ask the department first

Also per the OP, they were already giving donations in excess of $1M on a semi-regular basis. The matter of interpretation is whether you consider the birthday present a new donation or a continuation of a previous pattern.
 

Blader

Member
"Because Trump is worse" will likely be the response you get. Apparently Trump being a horrible person (which he is) makes every bad thing Hillary does null and void.

The entire premise of this story, and the thread about it, is that Hillary Clinton violated an ethical agreement by not notifying the State Department when the Clinton Foundation received a $1 million donation from Qatar in 2011.

But, the crux of that agreement was that State only needed to be notified and given a chance to review/approve Foundation donations from foreign governments if they marked either new or increased support. The Qatar donation was neither; Qatar had been a foundation donor since 2002, and had given donations of $1 million or more before.

So the conclusion is that the reason Hillary did not notify State about the Qatar donation in 2011 is because it did not represent any change from the semi-regular Qatar donations made in the nine years prior. You can criticize Hillary for accepting donations from Qatar at all, which I think is fine, but as far as this particular alleged bout of unethical behavior goes, I'd say it is null and void.
 
so if i'm reading some of the comments in this thread correctly, we need to hold off any/all criticisms of a job applicant until after they get the job, because the other applicant is a poor choice. I should try this next time i'm up for promotion.
 
so if i'm reading some of the comments in this thread correctly, we need to hold off any/all criticisms of a job applicant until after they get the job, because the other applicant is a poor choice. I should try this next time i'm up for promotion.

I agree with the sentiment that criticizing Clinton is perfectly reasonable. However, people are nervous because Trump is legitimately dangerous with power, especially because there is no safety net like bankruptcy as a president.
 

4Tran

Member
So the conclusion is that the reason Hillary did not notify State about the Qatar donation in 2011 is because it did not represent any change from the semi-regular Qatar donations made in the nine years prior. You can criticize Hillary for accepting donations from Qatar at all, which I think is fine, but as far as this particular alleged bout of unethical behavior goes, I'd say it is null and void.
Yup. Another manufactured "ethics breach". It's sad to see Reuters go down this route.

so if i'm reading some of the comments in this thread correctly, we need to hold off any/all criticisms of a job applicant until after they get the job, because the other applicant is a poor choice. I should try this next time i'm up for promotion.
There are some legitimate criticisms of Clinton, but they tend to be few and far in between. Most of the stuff that shows up are just dumb things like this, and it only reveals how terrible some of her critics are.
 

bachikarn

Member
so if i'm reading some of the comments in this thread correctly, we need to hold off any/all criticisms of a job applicant until after they get the job, because the other applicant is a poor choice. I should try this next time i'm up for promotion.

Maybe if you are only paying attentions to things that confirm your current beliefs.
 
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