Washington, May 8 (IANS) The US Department of State said it is not planning to investigate the Clinton Foundation’s failure to report private donations that it received while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, Efe news agency reported on Friday.
“The State Department has not and does not intend to initiate a formal review, or to make a retroactive judgment about items that were not submitted during Secretary Clinton’s tenure,” State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke told reporters on Thursday.
In the last few days, several US media outlets have reported that the Clinton Foundation failed to disclose information about hundreds of foreign donations that could have resulted in a conflict of interest for Hillary Clinton during her 2009-2013 tenure as Secretary of State for the Obama administration.
Although the Clinton Foundation had already promised to make public all documents from that period, media scrutiny of these foreign donations increased after the former first lady and former senator announced in April her decision to run for president in 2016.
Clinton had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Obama administration to prevent potential conflicts of interest between her work as America’s top diplomat and as a board member of the Clinton Foundation, Rathke stated.
“We regret that we did not have the opportunity to review all new and increased foreign government donations,” he said.
However, he said, the State Department welcomed the steps the foundation was taking to address the matter.
The Clinton Foundation only accepts foreign donations from a limited group of six Western countries and excludes those coming from Middle East nations that are often accused of human rights violations and discrimination against women.
Hillary Clinton stepped down from her role at the foundation in April.