DOHA: Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s charity, the Clinton Foundation, confirmed that they accepted a $1m (£798,817) cheque from Qatar government when she was US secretary of state. The charity also admitted that the State Department was not informed about the receipt of the cheque in 2012.
Under an ethics agreement signed by Clinton ahead of taking up the cabinet role in 2009, she had pledged to notify the state department of any new or increased donations received by her charity from foreign governments.
Defending the receipt of the $1m cheque from the Qatar government, which was pledged in 2011 and handed over in 2012, foundation spokesman Brian Cookstra said the cheque did not amount to a “material increase” in the country’s support for the charity and thus was not subject to any review by the state department, Reuters reported.
The state department reportedly confirmed they have no record for a review request of a cheque of the said amount. A department spokeswoman, however, did not respond to additional questions about the donation.
Reuters reported that officials at Qatar’s embassy in Washington and in its Council of Ministers in the capital, Doha, also declined to comment on the issue.
