The vast Clinton network can be hard to keep up with. Recently released emails show that Hillary Clinton’s top aide, Huma Abedin, helped Bill Clinton’s former top aide, Doug Band, connect his Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire client, Gilbert Chagoury, to a senior U.S. diplomat.
As it turns out, Chagoury was denied a visa to enter the United States last year due to concerns over his his ties to terrorist groups.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Chagoury’s relationship with Clintons dates back to the 1990s, when Chagoury was a business parter to Marc Rich, the Democratic fundraisers famously pardoned by Bill Clinton after Rich fled the country to avoid charges of fraud and tax evasion and violating sanction against Iran, one of the largest state sponsors of terrorism.
Following the pardon, Chagoury organized a speaking gig for Bill that paid the former president $100,000. Years later, Chagoury and his family pledged a whopping $1 billion to the Clinton Global initiative, and helped bundle campaign contributions for Hillary Clinton’s first presidential run in 2008.
While Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, the department began to explore a potential deal to build a consulate in Nigeria on land owned by Chagoury’s family. This was around the same time that federal officials starting looking into allegations that Chagoury might have financial ties to terror groups such as Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy in Lebanon.
The U.S. government’s suspicion of Chagoury continued after Clinton left the State Department. An FBI intelligence report in 2013 suggested that Chagoury may have been involved in “facilitating fundraising for Hezbollah.” Chagoury was added to a database of travelers with possible ties to terrorism, reports indicate, and when he tried to get a visa for a trip to Los Angeles last summer, the visa was denied.
Chagoury is hardly the only prominent Clinton Foundation donor to be flagged for terror financing. Hillary Clinton recently called out the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates — all generous donors to the foundation — for not doing enough to prevent their citizens from funneling millions of dollars to terror groups around the world.
The Clinton Foundation has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, as Clinton allies have acknowledged problems with the “charitable” organization, and have called for action to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. Even the New York Times editorial board is asking the Clintons to “cut ties” with their own foundation.
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