Attorneys representing Clinton Foundation donor and Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss are seeking his pound of flesh from Jacqueline Long, a woman who has publicly accused him of sexual abuse.
The high-profile Democratic donor’s attorneys filed a petition Aug. 4 seeking “harsh sanctions” against the Colorado woman following a June 8 The Daily Caller News Foundation article that reported her allegations. They claim Long violated the confidentiality provision of a $1.5 million settlement agreement the two signed in May 2013.
The Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia has scheduled a hearing this morning to determine the next step in the long-running saga.
The latest chapter began last December when Wyss gave a $5 million commitment to the Clinton Foundation’s No Ceilings project to help women and girls, an effort personally championed by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
At the time, no one knew that Wyss had executed a $1.5 million settlement, in part over Long’s allegations he had sexually abused her.
Wyss’ attorneys asked the Philadelphia court to order Long to reimburse him for the $1.5 million he paid in the settlement, as well $68,000 in attorney fees, and a daily fine of $200 until payment is completed. Wyss also asked the court to imprison Long if she fails pay in full within 30 days.
Neither Wyss nor his lawyers have publicly denied Long’s abuse charges. Wyss attorney Carolyn Short merely described Long as a “disgruntled employee.”
Long was an employee of his HJW Foundation and his California vineyard. Her attorney alleged a week before the 2013 settlement that the case was about “personal physical injuries and physical sickness she suffered literally at the hands of Mr. Wyss.”
The court found Long in contempt of court July 20 for failing to respond to four orders, and scheduled a court hearing for Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Wyss is closely connected to Clinton through John Podesta, who is the former first lady’s 2016 presidential campaign chairman and former White House chief of staff under her husband. Podesta has awarded Wyss with a seat on the board of his liberal Center for American Progress.
Wyss announced last December a $5 million commitment to the No Ceilings Project and at the same time, he issued a news release declaring his creation of a “Women’s Equality Project” at his $2.1 billion Wyss Foundation.
After the December announcements became public, Long sought privately to warn Clinton about allegations the Swiss billionaire had perpetrated violence and sexual abuse in their relationship.
The document was sent to Clinton’s home in Washington, D.C., but was returned, opened and resealed, from the former secretary of state’s Chappaqua, N.Y., home with the words “Will not Accept.”
The Clinton Foundation has refused to address the allegations surrounding Wyss, but has not been indifferent to the controversy. Wyss attorney Carolyn Short admitted in a letter to TheDCNF that the Clinton Foundation tipped Wyss off about an impending article about the affair.
While Wyss was celebrating his donation to the Clinton Foundation last December, his lawyers were in a separate legal battle before the U.S. District Court for Colorado, fighting to keep secret the $1.5 million settlement.
His lawyers said in a filing before the federal court that Long “acknowledged that the agreement’s confidentiality was of the utmost importance and that without plaintiff’s unequivocal commitment to keep the settlement agreement and its terms confidential, defendant would not have entered into the agreement.”
In a June 9 letter to TheDCNF officer Tucker Carlson, Wyss attorney Carolyn Short also threatened legal action against TheDCNF for printing Long’s allegations.
Short charged the article “contains many blatant falsehoods.” The Wyss lawyer demanded an immediate retraction of the June 8 article.
Short refused in a subsequent letter to identify out any errors in the published article, and in a third letter dropped demands for any retraction.
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