America
State Department not to probe Clinton Foundation donations
Washington, May 8
The US Department of State
said it is not planning to investigate the Clinton Foundation's failure
to report private donations that it received while Hillary Clinton was
Secretary of State, Efe news agency reported on Friday.
"The
State Department has not and does not intend to initiate a formal
review, or to make a retroactive judgment about items that were not
submitted during Secretary Clinton's tenure," State Department
spokesperson Jeff Rathke told reporters on Thursday.
In the last
few days, several US media outlets have reported that the Clinton
Foundation failed to disclose information about hundreds of foreign
donations that could have resulted in a conflict of interest for Hillary
Clinton during her 2009-2013 tenure as Secretary of State for the Obama
administration.
Although the Clinton Foundation had already
promised to make public all documents from that period, media scrutiny
of these foreign donations increased after the former first lady and
former senator announced in April her decision to run for president in
2016.
Clinton had signed a memorandum of understanding with the
Obama administration to prevent potential conflicts of interest between
her work as America's top diplomat and as a board member of the Clinton
Foundation, Rathke stated.
"We regret that we did not have the opportunity to review all new and increased foreign government donations," he said.
However, he said, the State Department welcomed the steps the foundation was taking to address the matter.
The
Clinton Foundation only accepts foreign donations from a limited group
of six Western countries and excludes those coming from Middle East
nations that are often accused of human rights violations and
discrimination against women.
Hillary Clinton stepped down from her role at the foundation in April.