SACRAMENTO AND WASHINGTON — Hoping to allay conflict-of-interest concerns as his wife prepares to become secretary of State, President Clinton released a donor list Thursday that shows he has raised as much as $131 million from foreign governments -- including Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Norway -- for the William J. Clinton Foundation.
More than 200,000 patrons that have given nearly $500 million since the foundation's inception in 1997 were identified by name only. The disclosure provides a window into a charity that had closely guarded the identities of its donors -- countries, companies and individuals with keen and sometimes less-than-altruistic interests in U.S. foreign policy.
Clinton's foundation has focused on providing healthcare, particularly for people with AIDS in underdeveloped countries. It also works to promote economic growth in Africa and Latin America, combat global climate change, and solve such problems as childhood obesity in the United States.
Many of the top donors have been major campaign supporters of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton. They include Los Angeles entertainment mogul Haim Saban, a strong backer of Israel; producer Stephen Bing; and Chicago billionaire Fred Eychaner.
The foundation also took in millions from foreign nationals, domestic and foreign corporations, and government entities that by law could not give to the Clintons' political campaigns. The Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office, Oman, Brunei, Qatar and Kuwait are among the high rollers that have given $1 million to $5 million.
When President-elect Barack Obama selected Hillary Clinton, the junior senator from New York, to be his secretary of State, he made clear that her husband would have to disclose the foundation donors. In a statement late Thursday, Obama said Bill Clinton's disclosure "meets our goals of transparency and goes above and beyond in preventing conflicts."
The list includes several businesses and individuals either from India or with strong ties to the country. Steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal gave between $1 million and $5 million; Suzlon Energy Ltd. contributed in that range; and the Confederation of Indian Industry donated $500,000 to $1 million.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy shrugged off any question about Hillary Clinton's ability to fairly mediate the chronically tense relationship between his country and India, both nuclear powers.
