Politics

Given Hillary’s Criticism, Will The Clinton Foundation Return Donald Trump’s $100K Donation?

Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
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A growing list of businesses and organizations — and now one Republican U.S. senator — have either severed ties with or returned donations from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump because of his comments about Mexican immigrants.

But at least one organization is holding onto The Donald’s dough, it seems. The Clinton Foundation is not saying whether it has any plans to return $100,000 the real estate mogul donated several years ago.

Trump has come under fire for calling Mexicans “rapists” during his campaign kickoff speech last month. The first companies to cut ties with Trump were Univision and NBC Universal. Both TV companies said they will no longer air Trump’s Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants because of his remarks.

Other companies like Macy’s and Serta, which sell Donald Trump ties and mattresses, respectively, will also end their contracts with him. NASCAR is canceling an end-of-season awards ceremony that was to be held at a Trump resort while PGA of America said it will no longer host one of its golf tournaments at a Trump course in Los Angeles.

And on Wednesday, Nevada U.S. Sen. Dean Heller said he donated a $2,000 campaign contribution Trump gave him in March to charity. A spokesman for Heller said that he does not condone Trump’s remarks about immigrants, the Associated Press reported.

Clinton also criticized Trump for his comments in her first national interview on Tuesday. But she did not address the money Trump has given her family charity or the dough he’s given her previous political campaigns.

“I’m very disappointed in those comments and I feel very bad and very disappointed with him and with the Republican Party for not responding immediately and saying, ‘Enough, stop it,'” Clinton told CNN during her interview.

“But you know they are all in the same general area on immigration.”

Clinton said nothing about Trump’s six-figure donation to the Clinton Foundation. Nor did she address the thousands of dollars in campaign contributions Trump and his son, Donald Trump, Jr., gave her during the mid-2000s.

The Clinton Foundation, which has raised nearly $2 billion since its inception in 2001, did not return a request for comment on whether it had plans to return the Trump money. Clinton’s campaign also did not respond to a request for comment.

The non-profit could certainly afford to return the donation to Trump if it chose to do so. According to its 2013 financial statement, the most recent on record, the Clinton Foundation has net assets of nearly $284 million. That includes nearly $66 million in cash.

This is not the first time the Clinton Foundation has kept a tight grip on money donated from entities that the Clintons have criticized. The organization has received millions of dollars in donations from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates, which have all been accused of widespread human-rights violations, especially against women.

The Foundation has given no indication that those contributions will be given back to their donors despite calls from some Republican lawmakers to do so.

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