Clinton’s dirty fingerprints on largest Export-Import Bank loan

Here is the latest scandal reveal of the Clintons that ties together the Import-Export bank, Dow Chemical, the Saudis, a convicted felon, add Huma Hillary’s gal pal, the Clinton Global Initiative and pure greed. A great read.

Few in the odd coalition of Left and Right pushing for reauthorization of the 81-year-old Export-Import Bank have been louder than Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. “It’s wrong that candidates for president, who really should know better, are jumping on this bandwagon,” she said at a May 22 campaign stop in New Hampshire. “It’s wrong, it’s embarrassing. . . . The idea that we would remove this relatively small but vital source of funding for our businesses to compete is absolutely backwards.”

Clinton’s defense of Ex-Import may be motivated by more than mere concern for American businesses. Critics have argued that her family’s byzantine network of political and business interests benefits tremendously from the bank’s low-interest loans, and previous investigations have raised questions about the bank’s independence from the Clintons’ political pressure. One Ex-Im deal in particular stands out in this regard, both for its sheer size and for its remarkable number of connections to Clinton friends, donors, organizations, and acolytes. From a secretive consulting stint by a top Hillary Clinton aide (Huma) that’s raised conflict-of-interest concerns, to the Clintons’ close personal and business relationship with the receiving firm’s CEO, the largest loan in the bank’s 81-year history appears covered in Clinton-family fingerprints.

The Ex-Im Board voted to approve Sadara’s request for a loan on August 22, 2012. By September 27, they had decided on an amount — $4.975 billion, the largest loan in the Ex-Im Bank’s history. Heritage Foundation scholar and Ex-Im Bank expert Diane Katz is surprised by the loan’s size, particularly considering the beneficiaries. “Dow Chemical hardly needs to benefit from subsidies,” she says, “and I suspect that the House of Saud really doesn’t need U.S. taxpayer subsidies.” The Ex-Im Bank describes itself as a “lender of last resort,” providing financing only to companies that cannot fund themselves or earn private financial banking.

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Filed under: Government Tagged: export import bank, Hillary Clinton