The state of Qatar gave a check for $1 million to former president Bill Clinton as a gift for his birthday in 2012, as reported by an email published by WikiLeaks. Julian Assange´s whistleblowing organization took this document from the email of Hillary Clinton´s campaign chairman John Podesta.
Donations From Qatar and Saudi Arabia
Apparently, the director of foreign policy for the Clinton Foundation, Ami Desai, knew about this situation and told several other staffers about the check, according to the International Business Times. Desai was then meeting with ambassadors from Malawi, Rwanda, Brazil, Peru and Qatar, to discuss philanthropic and financial strategies for the Clinton Foundation.
"[Qatar] would like to see WJC 'for five minutes' in NYC, to present $1 million check that Qatar promised for WJC's birthday in 2011. Qatar would welcome our suggestions for investments in Haiti - particularly on education and health. They have allocated most of their $20 million but are happy to consider projects we suggest. I'm collecting input from CF Haiti team," the correspondence read.
The email was addressed to top aides Justin Cooper and Doug Band, former foundation COO Laura Graham and board chairman Bruce Lindsey, as reported by the Daily Mail. This foundation has been criticized many times by the Republican Party because of donations received from foreign governments such as Saudi Arabia.
WikiLeaks To Influence U.S. Presidential Elections
WikiLeaks has published more than 10,000 emails from the personal inbox of Podesta. The leaks have included information about Hillary Clinton that could be very harmful to her campaign, according to political strategists and analysts.
For example, it was known that Podesta suggested that she stop her attacks on Bernie Sanders during the primaries, since he believed that they could count on his voters' support later. Also, her relations with Goldman Sachs was also revealed, which could allegedly aid the Clinton Foundation.
However, the most delicate information revealed by these emails is that she might know about the clandestine funding that Qatar and Saudi Arabia was offering to the Islamic State. Although Democrats have discredited the reliability of these documents and blamed Russia for "weaponised" WikiLeaks, it is unknown how this situation could influence the presidential elections.
