A USA Today analysis of federal lobbying data discovered 12 companies that donated $16 million to the Clinton Foundation and then lobbied for their special interests at the State Department.
From the exposé:
While it is widely known that some companies and foreign governments gave money to the foundations, perhaps in an effort to gain favor, one of the key parts of the puzzle hasn’t been reported: At least a dozen of those same companies lobbied the State Department, using lobbyists who doubled as major Clinton campaign fundraisers.
Those companies gave as much as $16 million to the Clinton charities. At least four of the lobbyists they hired are “Hillblazers,” the Clinton campaign’s name for supporters who have raised $100,000 or more for her current White House race. Two of the four also raised funds for Clinton’s unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid.
USA TODAY reached these conclusions by obtaining federal lobbying data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics for 2009-2013, Clinton’s tenure as secretary of State. Reporters then compared the data with donor lists made public by the Clinton nonprofits and federal campaign financial records.
Some of the companies appear to have gotten what they wanted; others did not. The companies, which in several cases provided limited answers to detailed USA TODAY questions, said they had done nothing improper. The charity donations, though questioned by Clinton critics, were all legal.
The Clinton campaign says this is all a coincidence, and that the donations to the Clinton Foundation had nothing to do with the subsequent lobbying at the State Department. But it definitely looks shady, and the American public won’t believe there’s no fire when there’s so much smoke pouring out of the foundation.
Microsoft, Pfizer, and ExxonMobil were among the companies, but this one is probably the one Trump will freak out over the most:
Mexico TV network Azteca and its affiliates donated as much as $375,000 while lobbying for U.S. business opportunities, an education initiative involving students from the U.S., Mexico and Latin America, and other causes.
While the review did not find instances where companies received special favors, each example illustrates the unique challenge the Democratic presidential nominee would face in dealing with potential conflicts of interest if she were to win the White House
So.. more shady dealings, but our nominee is too dumb to take advantage.