Clintons and Canada It's hard to boil down the Times' deeply detailed account, but the broad brushstrokes are as follows: A Canadian business wanted to sell its uranium mines in Kazakhstan and the U.S. to a Russian state-run -- i.e., Vladimir Putin-run -- firm. I know what you're thinking: What could go wrong?
In order to grease the skids -- allegedly, of course -- Canadian uranium moguls Frank Giustra and Ian Telfer gave millions to the Clinton Foundation and arranged for $500,000 speech by Bill Clinton (whose speaking fees mysteriously skyrocketed after his wife became secretary of state), bankrolled by a Russian investment bank with interests in the deal.
While in Kazakhstan, former president Clinton agreed to hold a joint press conference with president-for-life Nursultan A. Nazarbayev. (He's been getting "re-elected" with just shy of 100 percent of the vote since 1989.) Clinton generously praised Kazakhstan's human rights record, a propaganda gift of the first order. Days later, Giustra's deal was approved by the Kazakh government.
Also, when she became secretary of state, Hillary Clinton promised to disclose all such donations to the Clinton Foundation and submit her husband's foreign speeches for White House review. None of that happened.