I wrote here about a report, based on State Department emails, that a major Clinton Foundation donor was placed on a sensitive government intelligence advisory board even though he had no experience directly relevant to the position. The Clinton donor, a Chicago securities investor named Rajiv Fernando, served very briefly on the International Security Advisory Board (ISAB). It deals with such matters as nuclear disarmament and other arms control issues.
Fernando was so manifestly unfit for a spot on the ISAB that he resigned almost immediately after his appointment came under media scrutiny, saying that he needed to devote more time to his business. This brief affair produced a series of emails showing that (1) Fernando’s appointment baffled career State Department employees, (2) they concluded that the explanation was that top Hillary Clinton aide Cheryl Mills set aside the slot for this major Clinton donor, and (3) Team Clinton reacted to ABC News’ inquiries regarding this scandalous appointment by attempting to “protect the name” of the Secretary and “stalling” the ABC News reporter.
Now another email regarding this affair has emerged. In it, a top Clinton aide, Phillippe Reines, mocked the appointment of Fernando and the Clinton talking points defending it.
Reines was responding to an email from senior adviser Heather Samuelson (who reportedly later played a major part in deciding which of Clinton’s State Department emails to delete) that transmitted the Department’s explanation to ABC News for Fernando’s selection. The explanation stated:
As president and CEO of Chopper Trading, Mr. Fernando brought a unique perspective to ISAB. He has years of experience in the private sector in implementing sophisticated risk management tools, information technology and international finance.
Unimpressed, Reines responded:
Not the most compelling response I’ve ever seen since it’s such a dense topic the [ISAB] resolves around. Couldn’t he have landed a spot on the President’s Physical Fitness Council?
A spot on the Physical Fitness Council (which these days goes by another name) is just the kind of position a donor like Fernando would be rewarded with by an official less corrupt than Hillary Clinton. As I said in my earlier post:
The ISAB isn’t a normal, or suitable, landing place for a big donor. Fernando “served” alongside David A. Kay, the former head of the Iraq Survey Group and United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector; Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, a former National Security Advisor to two presidents; two former congressmen; and former Sen. Chuck Robb. William Perry, the former Secretary of Defense, chaired the panel.
But the Clintons have taken public corruption to new heights. This is what Reines effectively acknowledges in his snarky email.
If Hillary becomes president, expect boundless public corruption.
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