NYT: "An Ex-President, a Mining Deal and a Big Donor"

[bidenista]

An Ex-President, a Mining Deal and a Big Donor

By JO BECKER and DON VAN NATTA Jr.
Published: January 31, 2008

Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited: highly coveted deposits of uranium that could fuel nuclear reactors around the world. And Mr. Giustra was in hot pursuit of an exclusive deal to tap them.

Unlike more established competitors, Mr. Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying Mr. Giustra on his luxuriously appointed MD-87 jet that day was a former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.

Upon landing on the first stop of a three-country philanthropic tour, the two men were whisked off to share a sumptuous midnight banquet with Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, whose 19-year stranglehold on the country has all but quashed political dissent.

Mr. Nazarbayev walked away from the table with a propaganda coup, after Mr. Clinton expressed enthusiastic support for the Kazakh leader’s bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy. Mr. Clinton’s public declaration undercut both American foreign policy and sharp criticism of Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record by, among others, Mr. Clinton’s wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/us/politics/31donor.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Edited to add: I don't think this will harm HRC, unless there's an explosive follow-up. It's a big money connections story, about Bill and buddies, but there are no allegations of impropriety or illegality, and HRC is hardly mentioned.

[bidenista]

1. KICK

:kick:

[Proud2BAmurkin]

2. I don't get it. Hillary is building a bomb?

[ursi]

4. Look at the timing of the $100 million donation to Bill's private foundation.

This reeks!!! And from a deal with a man with 19-years of human rights abuses under his belt! DISGUSTING!!! No wonder Bill wants bank in the White House!!

[Thrill]

3. Kick

[Kittycat]

5. Interesting.

[Colobo]

6. Mmm... interesting indeed.

[KennedyGuy]

7. Funny..I don't see the word "Hillary" anywhere in the article....

[ursi]

12. Bill in the White House with nothing to do but broker private corporations' deals?

Just imagine. Just like what we have been putting up with for 7 years.

[Melinda]

13. You obviously didn't bother to read it then, good grief. n/t

[ursi]

16. Oh, I read it, Melinda. Did you?

[Melinda]

25. And you missed Hillary's name, eh?

:eyes:

*on edit: I think you (ursi) misunderstood that my response was to Kennedy and not you (ursi), just as I responded to your subject line without seeing your name.

At least I think.

[WilliamPitt]

36. Paragraph 4

Mr. Nazarbayev walked away from the table with a propaganda coup, after Mr. Clinton expressed enthusiastic support for the Kazakh leader’s bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy. Mr. Clinton’s public declaration undercut both American foreign policy and sharp criticism of Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record by, among others, Mr. Clinton’s wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

[LibraLiz1973]

8. Was Borat there?

Hillary clearly had nothing to do with it. What's the affect on her campaign?

[Proud2BAmurkin]

11. .

:rofl:

[Diane R]

9. I thought she's already been vetted? Not so much, I guess......

[Stephanie]

37. Well they won't release the library donor records.

Only some have been dug up by going thru tax records, etc. It's an outrage and we ought to DEMAND that they release those records, as long as the Clintons are still married it's a gift to both of them.

[KittyWampus]

10. Frank Rich intimated this was going down. Clintons' "Obama hasnt' been vetted" crap is now

going to bite them in their ass.

[ursi]

15. I'm glad Obama snubbed her. Her hands are dirty.

She can't say she didn't now about this shit like she didn't know about the cigar.

[BeyondGeography]

30. He sure did

It pays to hang out in the newsroom.

[Seen the light]

14. Bu-bu-bu-bu-but REEEEEEEZKO!!!!!!!!

Clintons, so much sleaze.

[OzarkDem]

17. Looks like Hillary is next

Corporate America and the news media are moving quickly now; first Edwards, now they're preparing to dispatch Clinton. Obama is their man. He'll either cut a deal with them or they'll bump him off in the GE.

Get ready for another GOP president. They probably won't even need Diebold this time.

[ursi]

19. All's far in dirty wars. How do we know that Edwards didn't leak this?

[OzarkDem]

26. The news media and corporate masters

have already done the oppo research and figured out the timing. They've probably been working on it since the Dems won a majority in Congress.

[bidenista]

28. i'm no corporation-luvin maniac, but i think you're being a bit paranoid

[OzarkDem]

31. Welcome to DU

BTW, don't they use that photo a lot over on Free Republic?

[bidenista]

34. no idea

I Google image-searched for tin foil hats. Do you spend a lot of time on FR?

[Knox Harrington]

18. YAAWWWNNNN

How does anyone know that the $100 million was even related to the unranium deal?? And if it was? So what!!

I think it's a good thing if we get a leader with business smarts. There's nothing wrong with helping a friend out once in a while, and if you both benefit it's even better.

[Mojorabbit]

24. You surely are joking?

This is awful. The last thing we need is for our nominee if she gets it to have this shit in the papers right now. I do not want another republican president to finish off the supreme court.
She is not my first choice but this is really bad for the party. Is there not a candidate that is clean?

[bidenista]

27. i think you're over-estimating

This is too complicated a story for the MSM. Doubt it'll go far. They want trivial stuff, and absent criminality, won't bother with this.

[Mojorabbit]

32. No

I disagree, this is red meat for the media. It will have legs.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

20. HOLY SHIT it says Bill Clinton supported a DEMOCRACY MONITORING organization

NOOO

[debatepro]

21. Read the whole thing

Obama supporter here...

Seems rather uninteresting... mostly talks about big donations Mr. Clinton was able to extract for the Clinton foundation... in fact it says Mrs. Clinton and Bill didn't agree...

Mr. Clinton’s praise was odd, given that the United States did not support Mr. Nazarbayev’s bid. (Late last year, Kazakhstan finally won the chance to lead the security organization for one year, despite concerns raised by the Bush administration.) Moreover, Mr. Clinton’s wife, who sits on a Congressional commission with oversight of such matters, had also voiced skepticism.


Eleven months before Mr. Clinton’s statement, Mrs. Clinton co-signed a commission letter to the State Department that sounded “alarm bells” about the prospect that Kazakhstan might head the group. The letter stated that Kazakhstan’s bid “would not be acceptable,” citing “serious corruption,” canceled elections and government control of the news media.

In a written statement to The Times, Mr. Clinton’s spokesman said the former president saw “no contradiction” between his statements in Kazakhstan and the position of Mrs. Clinton, who said through a spokeswoman, “Senator Clinton’s position on Kazakhstan remains unchanged.”

If I were Obama I wouldn't touch this thing... looks like a trap.

[Melinda]

22. And WJC is caught in yet another lie!

It's a four page article chock full... I hope people take the time to read it. This clip though:

Both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Giustra at first denied that any such meeting occurred. Mr. Giustra also denied ever arranging for Kazakh officials to meet with Mr. Clinton. Wednesday, after The Times told them that others said a meeting, in Mr. Clinton’s home, had in fact taken place, both men acknowledged it.

“You are correct that I asked the president to meet with the head of Kazatomprom,” Mr. Giustra said. “Mr. Dzhakishev asked me in February 2007 to set up a meeting with former President Clinton to discuss the future of the nuclear energy industry.” Mr. Giustra said the meeting “escaped my memory until you raised it.”

Wednesday, Mr. Clinton’s spokesman, Ben Yarrow, issued what he called a “correction,” saying: “Today, Mr. Giustra told our office that in February 2007, he brought Mr. Dzhakishev from Kazatomprom to meet with President Clinton to discuss the future of nuclear energy.”



:mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh: :mad: :argh:

[Stephanie]

35. Oh geez - he gave Clinton $131 MILLION altogether!

Unbelievable. And they're going after Obama for purchasing a strip of LAWN?


"Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton’s charitable foundation received its own windfall: a $31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month. The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra’s more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton’s inner circle, an exclusive club of wealthy entrepreneurs in which friendship with the former president has its privileges."

[Auntie Bush]

23. Why are you shouting?

I can hear and see ya. Isn't that against the rules? Quiet down now...you woke me up from my nap!

[ruggerson]

29. THIS was Drudge's big bombshell? lol.

[Stephanie]

33. Quid Pro Quo

Clinton flies to the dictator's home with his pal who wants to curry favor. He endorses the dictator, the dictator hands over the uranium contract to Bill's pal, and the pal hands $31 million to Clinton's library. Not bad for a day's work. Bill is going to torpedo Hillary's campaign. He just can't help himself.

Bill's "The Underminer."

In a statement Kazakhstan would highlight in news releases, Mr. Clinton declared that he hoped it would achieve a top objective: leading the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which would confer legitimacy on Mr. Nazarbayev’s government.

“I think it’s time for that to happen, it’s an important step, and I’m glad you’re willing to undertake it,” Mr. Clinton said.

***

Eleven months before Mr. Clinton’s statement, Mrs. Clinton co-signed a commission letter to the State Department that sounded “alarm bells” about the prospect that Kazakhstan might head the group. The letter stated that Kazakhstan’s bid “would not be acceptable,” citing “serious corruption,” canceled elections and government control of the news media.

***

But Robert Herman, who worked for the State Department in the Clinton administration and is now at Freedom House, a human rights group, said the former president’s statement amounted to an endorsement of Kazakhstan’s readiness to lead the group, a position he called “patently absurd.”

“He was either going off his brief or he was sadly mistaken,” Mr. Herman said. “There was nothing in the record to suggest that they really wanted to move forward on democratic reform.”

Indeed, in December 2005, Mr. Nazarbayev won another election, which the security organization itself said was marred by an “atmosphere of intimidation” and “ballot-box stuffing.”

After Mr. Nazarbayev won with 91 percent of the vote, Mr. Clinton sent his congratulations. “Recognizing that your work has received an excellent grade is one of the most important rewards in life,” Mr. Clinton wrote in a letter released by the Kazakh embassy. Last September, just weeks after Kazakhstan held an election that once again failed to meet international standards, Mr. Clinton honored Mr. Nazarbayev by inviting him to his annual philanthropic conference.

Within 48 hours of Mr. Clinton’s departure from Almaty on Sept. 7, Mr. Giustra got his deal. UrAsia signed two memorandums of understanding that paved the way for the company to become partners with Kazatomprom in three mines.

[Big Blue Marble]

38. HRC supporters back away from this story with lots of rationalizations.

but come after Obama for a possible missed handshake.


Why am I not surprised.

[nonconformist]

39. I think this is a non-issue.

It's a complicated story... too complicated to really go anywhere, especially since as you say there are no allegations of impropriety or illegality and she's barely mentioned.