Rules of the game, Hillary style

The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Laura Myers managed to get a look at the highly confidential contract that Ms. Hillary requires for her overpriced speaking engagements secured through the offices of the Harry Walker Agency. Myers reports:

[Hillary Clinton] will get $225,000 to speak at the annual dinner [of the UNLV Foundation]. The size of Hillary Clinton’s fee has come under fire from critics who question the large expense in an era when students are hard-pressed to cover tuition and leave school saddled with massive debt.

But Clinton’s $225,000 is something of a cut-rate. Documents obtained by the newspaper show that she initially asked for $300,000 and reveal that she insists on controlling every detail of the private event, large and small, to ensure that she will be the center of attention.

“It is agreed that Speaker will be the only person on the stage during her remarks,” according to the May 13 contract the Harry Walker Agency signed for Clinton’s keynote address at the Bellagio.

According to her standard speaking contract, Clinton will remain at the event no longer than 90 minutes; will pose for no more than 50 photos with no more than 100 people; and won’t allow any press coverage or video- or audio-taping of her speech.

The only record allowed will be made by a stenographer whose transcription will be given only to Clinton. The stenographer’s $1,250 bill, however, will go to the UNLV Foundation.

The foundation, meanwhile, is prohibited from advertising the event on radio, TV or billboards. Mail and website ads are allowed, although Clinton staffers must approve in writing any promotional material. One unhappy UNLV Foundation official in an email complained of “meddling” after Clinton’s agency edited a description of the annual dinner to “dumb it down.”

And Clinton’s demand for approval of all website material before it hits the Internet prompted a UNLV Web designer to grouse in an email that it seems “assbackwards in my mind.”

The foundation complied with Clinton’s wishes, however.

Myers reiterates some of these points and adds some details:

Clinton’s contract allows her to invite up to 20 guests, including her staff, and have them sit together to be able to join the photo line.

None of the photos can be made public….

UNLV did win one major concession in contract talks that stretched more than a year: The Harry Walker Agency Inc. agreed to a $225,000 fee, down from Clinton’s standard $300,000.

Clinton’s fee usually includes expenses such as travel by private jet, other transportation, hotel rooms, phone charges, a TelePrompter, if needed, and all meals and “incidentals” for her and her staff.

“We can bring the fee down (because of the fact that a major portion of the $300K is for the jet),” an agency representative wrote in a May 23, 2013, email to a UNLV Foundation official.

“I believe the $225,000 ALL INCLUSIVE plus stenographer fee should do it,” the agency said in a follow-up May 31, 2013, email after the university negotiated the discount and asked for confirmation.

Presumably, Clinton will have to pay for her own jet to Las Vegas, presidential suite and other costs she normally charges to events, unless some private donor picks up the tab.

According to a May 31, 2013 email, Clinton’s standard contract usually includes:

■ Round-trip transportation on a chartered private jet “e.g., a Gulfstream 450 or larger jet,” plus round-trip business class travel for two advance staffers who will arrive up to three days in advance.

■ Hotel accommodations selected by Clinton’s staff and including “a presidential suite for Secretary Clinton and up to three (3) adjoining or contiguous single rooms for her travel aides and up to two (2) additional single rooms for the advance staff.”

■ A $500 travel stipend to cover out-of-pocket costs for Clinton’s lead travel aide.

■ Meals and incidentals for Clinton, her travel aides and advance staff, as well as all phone charges.

■ Final approval of all moderators or introducers.

We clearly have a lot to look forward to in the event of another Clinton presidency.

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