Former President Bill Clinton denied renewed allegations that charity money earmarked for Haiti, and otherwise, from the Clinton Foundation was used to fund daughter Chelsea’s 2010 wedding.
Clinton took to Twitter to address the renewed rumor, which first emerged the day before the 2016 presidential.
He wrote: ‘No Clinton Foundation funds — dedicated to Haiti or otherwise —were used to pay for Chelsea’s wedding. It’s not only untrue, it’s a personal insult to me, to Hillary, and to Chelsea and Marc.’
The allegation re-emerged this week after Bill, Hillary and Chelsea tweeted reactions to Trump’s reported remarks about ‘sh**hole countries,’ that referenced Haiti, among other nations.
Chelsea Clinton married Marc Mezvinsky (pictured) in 2010, the allegations that Clinton Foundation funds were diverted to the wedding were first reported via emails from WikiLeaks
The reporting of the Foundation funds to Chelsea’s wedding emerged the day before the 2016 election
Old allegations, new statement: Bill Clinton took to Twitter to deny the allegations Saturday
‘The anniversary of the devastating earthquake 8 years ago is a day to remember the tragedy, honor the resilient people of Haiti, & affirm America’s commitment to helping our neighbors,’ Hillary Clinton tweeted. ‘Instead, we’re subjected to Trump’s ignorant, racist views of anyone who doesn’t look like him.’
Chelsea Clinton tweeted: ‘Mr. President, immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and the 54 countries in Africa likely helped build your buildings. They’ve certainly helped build our country.’
The allegation was returned to the public discourse on Saturday when Tom Fitton, president of the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, responded to the Clinton family tweets during a segment on Fox News.
The original information came from emails that WikiLeaks published on November 6, 2016.
In several emails, Doug Band, a former top aide to president Bill Clinton and a former Clinton Global Initiative board member, complains about Chelsea Clinton (writing ‘cvc’ for Chelsea Victoria Clinton).
In one email, dated January 1, 2012, Band emails John Podesta, Chairman of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and says Chelsea Clinton was conducting an internal investigation into CGI and the Clinton Foundation, which posed a conflict of interest.
It is unclear why Chelsea Clinton was investigating her family’s foundation and its dealings with money.
But the emails appear to reveal that Chelsea Clinton told one of former president George W Bush’s daughters about the investigation, which put the information into the hands of the GOP – what Band referred to as a ‘conflict of interest’.
Clinton family tweets disdain after President Trump’s ‘sh**thole countries’ remarks
Hillary took her own shot at POTUS for the comments he made on Thursday. The tweets seemed to have spurned renewed interest in the discussion of Chelsea’s wedding
It is not known which daughter Chelsea Clinton told this information to or why she disclosed that she was conducting the internal investigation.
The email from Band reads: ‘I just received a call from a close friend of (William Jefferson Clinton) who said that cvc told one of the (George W Bush) kids that she is conducting an internal investigation of money within the foundation from cgi to the foundation.
‘The bush kid then told someone else who then told an operative within the republican party.
‘I have heard more and more chatter of cvc and (Bari Lurie, chief of staff to Chelsea Clinton at the Clinton Foundation) talking about lots of what is going on internally to people. Not smart,’ he wrote.
Podesta replied calling his comments an ‘understatement’.
Band replies: ‘I learned from the best. The investigation into her getting paid for campaigning, using foundation resources for her wedding and life for a decade, taxes on money from her parents …
‘I hope that you will speak to her and end this. Once we go down this road….,’ Band wrote ominously.
On Saturday, the Washington Post pointed out specifically that, notwithstanding not knowing the nature of these emails, they refer to ‘resources’ from the Foundation and not money, or funds.