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   From: investigate.pelosi@cnn.com   
      
   Corruption: What is it about Democrats and the State Department?   
   Despite their repeated claims of transparency, it turns out that   
   both Hillary Clinton and current Secretary of State John Kerry   
   used their positions to enrich members of their own families --   
   at taxpayer expense.   
      
   As the murky ties between the Clinton Foundation and Hillary's   
   State Department become clearer, a new report from the Daily   
   Caller notes that current Secretary of State Kerry's daughter   
   received money for her nonprofit group from State.   
      
   Indeed, the Daily Caller investigation shows that more than $9   
   million of State Department money made its way through the Peace   
   Corps to the nonprofit started by Dr. Vanessa Kerry, John   
   Kerry's daughter. And the money was handed out without   
   competition.   
      
   Kerry's nonprofit, Seed Global Health, got its first contract in   
   2012. Yes, that was when Hillary was still in office. But John   
   Kerry then was a senator who headed the Committee on Foreign   
   Relations, which is charged with overseeing both the State   
   Department and the Peace Corps.   
      
   There is a clear conflict of interest there.   
      
   That's bad enough. But last year, in September, the Seed group   
   got a four-year extension on its deal while John Kerry was   
   secretary of state.   
      
   Another conflict of interest. Crony capitalism, anyone? Whether   
   you think that what Seed does in Africa -- it helps train   
   doctors and nurses -- is valuable or not, this no-competition   
   grant to a nonprofit founded by a top official's daughter reeks   
   of rank favoritism at best, corruption at worst.   
      
   "Kerry and government officials colluded to launch the program   
   and ensure that Seed would get the contract," the Daily Caller   
   concluded, after reviewing the relevant memos and papers related   
   to the deal.   
      
   But it doesn't end there. Because, even as the Kerry deal was   
   being revealed, further strands of the heretofore hidden ties   
   between then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Clinton   
   Foundation and a mysterious Russian billionaire with close ties   
   to Vladimir Putin are coming to light.   
      
   The Washington Examiner got its hands on emails showing that the   
   Clinton Foundation sought ties with Russian billionaire Viktor   
   Vekselberg at a time when he was in charge of an important   
   element of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's "Russian   
   reset."   
      
   Hillary helped create "a major technology transfer initiative"   
   that "may have substantially undermined U.S. national security,"   
   according to Peter Schweizer, president of the Government   
   Accountability Institute and the author of " Clinton Cash."   
      
   Part of the "reset" was the creation of "Skolkovo," an   
   industrial enclave near Moscow that was to become a kind of   
   Russian Silicon Valley. The idea was to encourage U.S. firms to   
   help out with both technology and investment, in exchange for   
   market access.   
      
   Despite warnings from both the FBI and her own State Department   
   about the possibility of Russia getting access to militarily   
   sensitive technologies, Hillary went ahead with the program. Why?   
      
   At the time, Vekselberg -- head of the Skolkovo Foundation and a   
   pal of Vladimir Putin -- was also a contributor to the Clinton   
   Foundation. These ties later proved quite lucrative, with 17 of   
   the 28 American companies that participated in the Skolkovo   
   project also being donors to the Clinton Foundation.   
      
   All the way back in 2010, as Skolkovo was getting underway,   
   former President Bill Clinton traveled to Russia to deliver a   
   speech for which he was paid $500,000 by a mysterious Russian   
   investment bank named "Renaissance Capital." While there he met   
   with a variety of movers and shakers, including Vekselberg.   
      
   With the Clintons, one hand always washes the other.   
      
   Now that it has been revealed that thousands of emails on   
   Hillary's unsecured home-brew server have been intentionally   
   destroyed, it is certainly fitting to wonder whether damning or   
   incriminating evidence about the Clinton Foundation and its ties   
   to Hillary's office at the State Department was destroyed.   
      
   The U.S. State Department used to be known for its high-toned   
   and principled stands in defense of U.S. foreign-policy goals   
   and interests. But today, after two Democratic leaders, it   
   appears to be more of a revolving door for crony capitalists.   
      
   We would hope Congress would continue to investigate the email   
   scandal and what appears to be rampant abuse of office that has   
   taken place at the State Department over the past eight years.   
   Such clear conflicts of interest used to raise political hackles.   
      
   Congress should, at minimum, make sure that future secretaries   
   of state no longer abuse their office to personally enrich their   
   families and friends. Anything less is to condone criminality.   
      
   http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/scandals-at-state-   
   how-clinton-kerry-used-office-to-enrich-their-families/   
                            
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)