David Sirota
International Business Times
5/26/2015
Even by the standards of arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia, this one was enormous. A consortium of American defense contractors led by Boeing would deliver $29 billion worth of advanced fighter jets to the United States’ oil-rich ally in the Middle East.
Israeli officials were agitated, reportedly complaining to the Obama administration that this substantial enhancement to Saudi air power risked disrupting the region’s fragile balance of power. The deal appeared to collide with the State Department’s documented concerns about the repressive policies of the Saudi royal family.
But now, in late 2011, Hillary Clinton’s State Department was formally clearing the sale, asserting that it was in the national interest. At a press conference in Washington to announce the department’s approval, an assistant secretary of state, Andrew Shapiro, declared that the deal had been “a top priority” for Clinton personally. Shapiro, a longtime aide to Clinton since her Senate days, added that the “U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army have excellent relationships in Saudi Arabia.”
These were not the only relationships bridging leaders of the two nations. In the years before Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, the philanthropic enterprise she has overseen with her husband, former president Bill Clinton. Just two months before the deal was finalized, Boeing — the defense contractor that manufactures one of the fighter jets the Saudis were especially keen to acquire, the F-15 — contributed$900,000 to the Clinton Foundation, according to a company press release…
The complete article is at International Business Times.
Related: Grassley to Probe Hillary Staff’s Meddling in FOIA Requests
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) is investigating reports that senior aides to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton interfered with public records requests.
Politico reports that Grassley sent a letter Friday to current Secretary of State John Kerry requesting information on claims that top Clinton staffers reviewed and in some case insisted on withholding information from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests…
The Hillary Clinton Benghazi Emails, Explained
…So, what’s in the emails?
Glad you asked. Let’s start with Sidney Blumenthal. The emails show that Hillary was frequentlycorresponding with her “old friend” (and former Clinton administration aide) in the run-up to the Benghazi attacks. Blumenthal was essentially running a freelance intelligence operation in Libya and passing on information to Hillary, who would forward it to aides in the State Department and the White House. Turns out Blumenthal also had business associates who were hoping to cash in on the fall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, and was receiving money from the Clinton Foundation and a number of other Clinton-allied groups at the time.
Sounds sketchy. Isn’t he the guy who kept promoting racially-tinged attacks against Barack Obama back in 2008?
That’s him…
