Fighting corruption is not just good governance. It’s self-defense. It’s patriotism. – Joe Biden

CNSNews.com reports that

“Hillary Clinton ran the State Department like a failed leader in a third-world country,” Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida on Wednesday. “She sold favors and access in exchange for cash.”

In a telephone interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday night, Democrat Hillary Clinton was asked to respond.

“Well, first, What Trump has said is ridiculous. My work as secretary of state was not influenced by any outside forces,” Clinton said. “I made policy decisions based on what I thought was right, to keep Americans safe and to protect U.S. interests abroad.

“No wild political attack by Donald Trump is going to change that. And, in fact, the State Department has said itself that there is no evidence of any kind of impropriety at all.”

Clinton noted that the Clinton Foundation does “life-saving work” and is “well-respected” in the U.S. and around the world.

“And in 2009, they (the Clinton Foundation) took steps that went above and beyond all legal requirements, and indeed, all standard requirements followed by every other charitable organization — voluntarily disclosing donors, significantly reducing sources of funding, even to the point of, you know, of (that) funding being involved in providing medication to treat HIV/AIDS.”

Clinton became secretary of state in 2009 after signing an ethics agreement that said she would “seek to ensure that the activities of the Foundation, however beneficial, do not create conflicts or the appearance of conflicts.”

But an Associated Press report published on Tuesday found that more than half of the non-government officials who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money, in some cases, substantial sums of money, to the Clinton Foundation.

Bill Clinton last week announced that to avoid conflicts of interest, the Foundation will stop accepting foreign and corporate donations and he will step down from the board if Hillary is elected president.

Hillary Clinton told Anderson Cooper that those changes will allow the Clinton Foundation “to continue as much of its important work as possible, but to do it in a way that provides great disclosure, and although none of this is legally required, these steps go further than the policies that were in place when I was secretary state.”

“Why was it OK for the Clinton Foundation to accept foreign donations when you were Secretary of State, but it wouldn’t be okay when you were president?” Cooper asked Clinton.

“Well, what we did when I was secretary of state, as I said, went above anything that was required, anything that any charitable organization has to do,” Clinton said.

“Now, obviously, if I am president, there will be some unique circumstances, and that’s why the foundation has laid out additional unprecedented steps we will take if I am elected.”

“Didn’t those unique circumstances exist when you were secretary of state?” Cooper asked.

“No, no, you know, look, Anderson. I know there’s a lot of smoke and there’s no fire. This AP report — put it in context. It excludes nearly 2,000 meetings I had with world leaders, plus countless other meetings with U.S. government officials when I was secretary of state.”

According to the Associated Press, at least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs.

“The meetings between the Democratic presidential nominee and foundation donors do not appear to violate legal agreements Clinton and former president Bill Clinton signed before she joined the State Department in 2009,” the AP said. “But the frequency of the overlaps shows the intermingling of access and donations, and fuels perceptions that giving the foundation money was a price of admission for face time with Clinton.”

The AP said the 154 people did not include U.S. federal employees or foreign government representatives “because such meetings would presumably have been part of her diplomatic duties.”

Clinton told Cooper the Associated Press report examined “a small portion” of her tenure as secretary of state: “And it drew the conclusion and made the suggestion that my meetings with people like the late, great Elie Wiesel or Melinda Gates or the Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus (a Bangladeshi economist) were somehow due to connections with the Foundation instead of their status as highly respected global leaders. That is absurd,” Clinton said.

“These are people I was proud to meet with, who any secretary of state would have been proud to meet with, to hear about their work and their insights.”

And, the check’s in the mail.

As I have previously written, Clinton’s trail of corruption leads all the way back to when she was fired from the Watergate Investigative Committee for dishonesty.

However, to practice “Pay-For-Play” on a Global Scale, while holding the Office of Secretary of State of the United States of America,  issues downright treasonous.

Why did she do it?

Michael Goodwin, in his column for the New York Post, offers the following spot-on analysis:

The easy answers about why she did what she did are too obvious: She wanted to get rich and she didn’t want anyone to know her business.

Throw in her chronic paranoia and sense of entitlement, and she and Hubby Dearest had a rationale for thinking they were above the law. They’d escaped his impeachment trial, so they believed they had lifetime immunity.

All true, but too simple, and it’s impossible to believe that’s all there is. There has to be more, probably something so big and awful, it would destroy her if it’s discovered.

Remember, the Clintons were absolutely determined to get back to the White House, which would be the ultimate vindication of their public lives. Victory would make them unique in American history, so it doesn’t make sense that they would risk throwing it all away for the obvious — and ordinary — benefits already revealed.

The added riches they collected through what I believe are corrupt actions weren’t necessary. They were getting legitimately rich on his and her book contracts alone.

And what difference would another donation make to the foundation, which was already swimming in more money than it could spend?

Because none of this adds up to a coherent explanation, I believe we are still in the dark about a hidden bombshell. There must be a secret Unholy Grail that explains her self-destructive behavior of stonewalling and lying.

I won’t speculate on what the Clintons are hiding because my gifts of imagination are no match for theirs. They always had a knack for pioneering new ways of selling access. No president had ever thought of renting out the Lincoln Bedroom until they did it.

The sleazy act that so outraged the nation then seems positively quaint now, thanks to the creative ways they’ve monetized power since leaving the White House. Now they could afford to buy the furniture they tried to steal on their way out the door then!

Of course, I could be wrong. I could be giving them far too much credit.

Maybe the Clintons really are just ordinary grifters, con artists who enjoy the thrill of pulling off the scam. Maybe it’s not even about the money.

Then again, it’s always about the money, one way or another.

And so, as with Watergate, with Bernie Madoff and now with the Clintons, the advice to all gumshoes is the same: Follow the money. Whatever deep, dark secret they are hiding, the money will lead us to it.

The price of “paying tribute” in order to gain an audience with someone in power goes all the way back to Biblical Times, continuing to the American and French Revolutions.

Our government was never meant to be a Monarchy. America remains a Constitutional Republic.

American Politicians were never meant to be Lords, who would remain in power in perpetuity, amassing unlimited wealth by accepting “tribute” from those seeking “favors”.

Our Founding Fathers envisioned Citizen Statesman, who after serving their country and their communities for a short period of time, would return to their homes, to their families, and to their trades.

What Hillary Clinton is attempting to get away with is a prime example of why our Founders set up the System of Checks and Balances that they did when they were constructing our system of government.

Obama, the Department of Justice, and the clintons circumvented that system with a series of maneuvers carried out between the White House, the campaign Trail, and a private jet idling on a Tarmac at an airport.

Come November, as Americans, we will have an opportunity to voice how we feel about this travesty of Justice in November of this year.

Unlike the French Revolution, we won’t have to entrust our future to Madame Guillotine.

Our country’s future will be entrusted to The Ballot Box.

This November, remember July 5th, 2016 as the day that Hillary Clinton was proven to be above the law.

And, vote accordingly.

Until He Comes, 

KJ