Clinton Foundation Ignores Commonly-Held Best Practices

Clinton Foundation officials have ignored virtually all of the “best practices” urged by good governance organizations for public charities, according to an investigation by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Most glaringly, for example, the foundation’s insular board of directors is unusually small, ranging from only two to no more than five members, all of whom are among President Bill and Hillary Clinton’s closest and richest friends.

The “good governance” movement in the nonprofit field has been gathering strength for two decades, but it clearly has yet to reach the Clinton Foundation. Most foundation boards have on average 15 members, according to a 2015 survey by Boardsource, a national organization working to strengthen nonprofit board leadership.

Good governance groups also encourage well-managed non-profits to create dedicated oversight committees for audits, donations, governance, executive compensation and whistleblower policy. The Clinton Foundation has none of those committees, according to its Internal Revenue Service 990 tax filings.

The Independent Sector, a non-partisan good governance organization for nonprofits and foundations urge the creation of independent boards and said they should be in the majority.

“A substantial majority of the board of a public charity, usually meaning at least two-thirds of its members, should be independent,” the group recommended.

That is not the case with the Clinton Foundation. The board consists of Bill Clinton’s tightest inner circle, including Democratic mega-fundraiser and now Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, former Arkansas Democratic Sen. David Pryor and the senator’s former aide, J.L. “Skip” Rutherford.

McAuliffe was the top fundraiser for Bill and HIllary’s Clinton’s presidential campaigns. He also put up $1.35 million of his own cash to pay for the Clinton’s first 11-room mansion in Chappaqua, New York.

The gift infuriated liberal activist Fred Wertheimer who at the time said, “It’s just plain wrong. It’s dangerous. It’s inappropriate,” adding, “This is a financial favor worth over a million dollars to the president.”

Charles Ortel, a Wall Street analyst and twice a trustee of public foundations argued the gift should have been disclosed in the foundation’s tax returns.

“Terry McAuliffe made it possible for the Clinton’s to buy their house in Chappaqua. That’s a significant financial relationship that should have been disclosed in the 990’s (tax return) and was not. And has never been corrected,” he said in an interview.

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