A set of emails made public Tuesday from Hillary Clinton's top aides at the State Department show Clinton Foundation executives and donors frequently consulted with the secretary of state's office, including by asking former President Bill Clinton to conduct "private" diplomatic discussions on a foundation-sponsored trip to Rwanda.
In the email, Johnnie Carson, assistant secretary for African affairs, said he and "the ambassador believe that it would be useful for President Clinton in his private conversations with [Rwandan President Paul] Kagame to quietly encourage him to defuse tensions with the [Democratic Republic of the Congo]." Much of the rest of the July 2012 email was classified by the State Department before it was released to Citizens United through the Freedom of Information Act.
Cheryl Mills, then Hillary Clinton's chief of staff, later shared "talking points" with a Clinton Foundation executive for Bill Clinton to use on his trip.
The emails preceded a September 2012 swing through Rwanda to tour Clinton Foundation projects, on which a New York Times reporter was brought to document the charity's work.
A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation did not immediately return a request for comment about the trip.
Get the Exclusive
04.18.2024