No Surprise Here: Clinton Foundation to Keep $250,000 Weinstein Donation

To what is surely no one���s surprise, the Clinton Foundation will not be returning, re-donating, or otherwise cleansing itself of the money donated to it by the now-notorious Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

According to the Daily Mail, that news outlet was told directly by the foundation on Sunday that the hundreds of thousands received through the years from Weinstein have already been spent on helping women in developing nations and on lowering the cost of HIV medication, and so cannot be returned. Additionally, the Daily Mail says it was told by the foundation that 2014 was the last time a donation was received from Weinstein.

In light of the tremendous scrutiny over the receipt of Weinstein money, and apparently uncomfortable with the queries from the Daily Mail on the matter, foundation spokesperson Craig Minassian took to Twitter later that day to defend the organization���s decision to keep the money, saying, ���Suggesting @ClintonFdn return funds from our 330,000+ donors ignores the fact that donations have been used to help people across the world.���

Although the foundation appears to have worked at cleaning up its act in recent years with regard to the issue of transparency and the acceptance of donations from questionable sources, its history, overall, isn���t great; back in 2006, the foundation took a $25,000 donation from Jeffrey Epstein a convicted sex offender. Additionally, the group���s acceptance of money from countries with a poor record in the area of women���s rights is well-documented.

There���s little question that the foundation���s unwillingness to return the Weinstein donation is conjuring memories of that unfortunate history, and casting the Clintons in an unflattering light once again.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large