NY Times cropped Bill Clinton quote regarding whether foundation donors would try to influence a Hillary Clinton administration

Summary: In a New York Times article, Don Van Natta Jr., Jo Becker, and Mike McIntire reported that Bill Clinton has "pledged to make public future donors" to the William J. Clinton Foundation if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected president. The article then stated, "While disclosure is not legally required, failure to do so, Mr. Clinton said, would raise 'all these questions about whether people would try to win favor with her by giving money to me.' " But the article omitted the rest of Clinton's statement, in which he asserted, "You know it wouldn't work, and I don't think they would. Still, there are legitimate questions."

In a December 20 New York Times article discussing donors to the William J. Clinton Foundation, reporters Don Van Natta Jr., Jo Becker, and Mike McIntire reported that "some of" Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) "rivals argue that donors could use presidential foundations to circumvent campaign finance laws intended to limit political influence" and claimed that "Mr. Clinton himself echoed those concerns this fall when he pledged to make public future donors if Mrs. Clinton was elected president." The article continued: "While disclosure is not legally required, failure to do so, Mr. Clinton said, would raise 'all these questions about whether people would try to win favor with her by giving money to me.' " But the article omitted the rest of Clinton's statement, in which he asserted, "You know it wouldn't work, and I don't think they would. Still, there are legitimate questions."

Bill Clinton was quoted in a September 20 article in The Economist saying that if Hillary Clinton were elected president, failing to disclose donors to his foundation would raise "all these questions about whether people would try to win favor with her by giving money to me." From the Economist article:

Mr Clinton insists he will continue his philanthropic work even if he becomes First Spouse-though some things would have to change. In particular, he would have to be more transparent. "Now we don't have to publish all of our donors, for example, and if Hillary became president, I think there would be all these questions about whether people would try to win favour with her by giving money to me," he says. "You know it wouldn't work, and I don't think they would. Still, there are legitimate questions." But given the power of Mr Clinton's personal brand, that transparency may be a price worth paying.

However, the Times article omitted the portion of the quote in which Bill Clinton asserted that he did not believe that donors would make contributions to his foundation in an attempt to influence a Hillary Clinton administration, and that if such an attempt were made, it would be ineffective. From the Times article:

Over the last decade, former President Bill Clinton has raised more than $500 million for his foundation, allowing him to build a glass-and-steel presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., and burnish his image as an impresario of global philanthropy. The foundation has closely guarded the identities of its donors - including one who gave $31.3 million last year.

Now, the secrecy surrounding the William J. Clinton Foundation has become a campaign issue as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton seeks the Democratic presidential nomination with her husband as a prime source of strategy and star power. Some of her rivals argue that donors could use presidential foundations to circumvent campaign finance laws intended to limit political influence.

Mr. Clinton himself echoed those concerns this fall when he pledged to make public future donors if Mrs. Clinton was elected president. While disclosure is not legally required, failure to do so, Mr. Clinton said, would raise "all these questions about whether people would try to win favor with her by giving money to me."

Even so, past donors should remain private, he insisted, "unless there is some conflict of which I am aware, and there is not."

But an examination of the foundation demonstrates how its fund-raising has at times fostered the potential for conflict.

—M.G.