Corruption

The Latest Clinton Foundation Scoop Is a Vital Lesson in How Things Work

The new batch of Hillary-themed State Department emails—obtained by Judicial Watch via a Freedom of Information Act request and thenpublished online Thursday—shows a Bill Clinton aide, who was also a Clinton Foundation executive, asking for help from Hillary Clinton’s State Department. “Need get me/ justy and jd dip passports,” Douglas Band wrote to Huma Abedin in an email on July 27, 2009, referring to diplomatic passports for himself and two of his fellow aides to the former president. “Okay. Will figure it out,” Abedin responded a few minutes later.

Here, then, we appear to have another example of the often-overlapping interests and uncomfortably close ties between the foundation and the agency, which you don’t have to believe is a scandal to concede is a legitimate concern. The backstory behind these emails, though, offers some crucial context that paints a different and far less sinister picture.