Book ‘Clinton Cash’ Claims Foreign Donors Got State Dept. Favors

Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign is just one week out of the gate, but already a supposedly bombshell book threatens to rock her candidacy.

The New York Times reported Monday that the book, set for release on May 5, will make new claims about donations to the Clinton Foundation by foreign donors. Specifically, the book reportedly claims foreign entities that donated to the foundation -- and that gave former President Bill Clinton high-dollar speaking fees -- in turn received favors from the Clinton State Department.

Author Peter Schweizer reportedly claims to have found a "pattern of financial transactions involving the Clintons that occurred contemporaneous with favorable U.S. policy decisions benefiting those providing the funds."

According to the Times, which got an advance copy of the book, Schweizer's examples include a Colombia free-trade agreement that helped a major donor and projects in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., himself a 2016 White House candidate, claimed earlier this month that "big news" is coming on the foundation.

"I think there are things that went on at the Clinton Foundation that are going to shock people," he said, in response to a question from Fox News in New Hampshire. "And I think they're going to make people question whether or not she ought to run for president."

According to the Times, he and other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee were briefed on the book's contents.

More