Consortiumnews.com, Feb 10, 2008
By Nat Parry
Only days before the make-or-break “Super Tuesday” primaries, Hillary Clinton dipped into her personal finances to lend her campaign $5 million, a move she kept secret until the day after she had battled Barack Obama to a standstill in the coast-to-coast voting.
If she had disclosed the loan before Super Tuesday, it might not only have generated troubling questions about the financial health of her campaign; it might have focused unwanted attention on the sources of the Clintons’ money.
Unlike other well-to-do politicians, the Clintons did not inherit their wealth or amass a fortune during a prior business career. Just seven years ago, on leaving the White House, the Clintons were millions of dollars in debt due to the costs of fighting legal battles.
Since then, they amassed a personal fortune – now estimated at about $30 million – largely from book contracts and the cachet of a former U.S. President, whose status attracted lucrative business deals and speaking tours, many involving overseas interests.
The proximity between the Clintons’ new-found wealth and Hillary Clinton’s presidential run raised eyebrows over whether the $5 million loan – and any future financial help she might give her campaign – could constitute backdoor financing from benefactors beyond what they could legally donate.
On Feb. 6, Sen. Clinton told reporters that the loan was “my money,” apparently meaning that she was not relying on the funds of her husband or anyone else. A Clinton spokesman later added that the loan was from her “share of their joint resources.”
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