Clinton Foundation accepts new foreign donations despite
Hillary's campaign promise
A number of foreign donors pledged new support for Clinton Foundation efforts during a conference in Marrakech last week, raising questions about the strength of Hillary Clinton's campaign promise to cut off foreign donations to her family philanthropy while she runs for president.
The Kingdom of Morocco was among the foreign entities that committed to new projects at the Clinton Global Initiative event, which drew dozens of big-ticket donors to the country for a three-day meeting headlined by Bill Clinton. Hillary was slated to attend the Marrakech conference before her name was quietly removed from the schedule earlier this year amid criticism of the foundation's foreign activities.
The Clinton Global Initiative is an arm of the Clinton Foundation that acts a broker between donors and entities that are interested in completing charitable projects. Under the memorandum of understanding that guided the foundation's activities while Hillary Clinton was in office, the Clinton Global Initiative was not allowed to hold major events overseas.
In all, 34 U.S.-based and foreign entities offered their support to Clinton Global Initiative projects at the Marrakech summit.
Akwa Group, a Moroccan oil, gas and telecommunications firm, committed to building solar-powered water pumps in the region. Nuru Energy, which operates in East Africa and India, pledged to provide LED lights to villages without electricity.
One company, state-owned phosphate exporter OCP, stirred controversy when the Clinton Foundation announced its sponsorship of the event given the firm's alleged exploitation in the disputed territory of the Western Sahara.
OCP reportedly donated more than $1 million to fund the event, which took place at the Palmeraie Golf Palace.
Attjariwafa Bank was also listed as a sponsor of the Clinton Global Initiative's operations in the Middle East and Africa.
King Mohammed VI owns controlling stakes in the Moroccan bank. Forbes ranked Attjariwafa among the most influential Arab enterprises last year.
Another company listed as a current Clinton Global Initiative sponsor is Laureate Education, which has come under fire in recent weeks after its involvement with both Bill Clinton and Hillary's State Department was revealed in Peter Schweizer's book Clinton Cash.
The State Department named Laureate Education a "global partner" shortly after Bill Clinton signed on as its "honorary chancellor" in 2010, Schweizer wrote.
A nonprofit headed by Laureate's chairman, Douglas Becker, soon began collecting millions of dollars from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
During the event, Bill Clinton fielded questions about the controversy surrounding his global charity work.
He and Chelsea Clinton took a group of big and small donors on a lavish trip to Kenya before heading to Morocco for the conference last week. Many of those donors have also been heavy supporters of Hillary Clinton's political campaigns.
While the State Department spoke out against the Moroccan government in 2011, when Hillary was serving as the nation's top diplomat, her foundation touted Morocco's economic vitality when it announced plans to host the Middle East and North Africa summit in the country.
Hillary's State Department criticized the "lack of citizens' right to change the constitutional provisions establishing the country's monarchical form of government" in 2011 despite the fact that the event was largely funded by a firm owned by the same monarch.
The Clinton Global Initiative conference highlighted a shift in Hillary Clinton's public stance on Morocco, a country whose government she criticized while in office but praised as a "vital hub for economic and cultural exchange" when announcing the event.
Clinton Foundation officials did not return a request for comment.
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