Whatabout Hillary? Seems to be a common response, so I might as well address it.
First, I’m always more concerned about what people in power are doing than what people out of power did. Everyone should be. And President is a more important position than Secretary of State.
My concern regarding conflicts of interest isn’t new. In August 2016, I wrote an article arguing that the Clinton Foundation “creates a conflict of interest,” which included a call to “end the Clinton Foundation.” There shouldn’t be a way for foreign governments to funnel money to a president’s private interests. I’ve been making this argument for years, and I can’t believe it’s remotely controversial.
That being said, two wrongs don’t make a right. And even if it did, the Trump case is much worse. President is a bigger deal than SecState. Money going to a privately owned business with hidden books is worse than money going to charity with published financial information.
Uranium One is a great example to highlight the differences. Nine different government agencies had to sign off, including State, Defense, Commerce and Energy. A Nevada state nuclear regulator had to sign off on it too. In the worst possible scenario, donations to the Clinton Foundation influenced the State Department’s decision. But not the Pentagon’s or Nevada’s. They all thought the deal was okay.
By contrast, Trump saved ZTE by himself, and he did it two days after China invested in a project that will bring a lot of profit to his private business.
This doesn’t somehow make the conflict of interest from the Clinton Foundation okay. But Trump’s conflicts of interest are a bigger problem. Both bigger conflicts of interest on their own, and a bigger problem because it’s ongoing, rather than in the past.
