Clintons’ Wall Street Gravy Train Keeps on Rolling
The Clintons and their Wall Street gravy train just keep on rolling.
Just a day after Hillary Clinton raked in a $225,000 speaking fee from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Foundation, Bill Clinton was hot on her money-making trail, back in New York on Tuesday earning what one source said was a similar six-figure payday from Veritas Capital, a private equity firm.
While Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. Senator from New York, secretary of state and prospective 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, spoke about the need to make higher education more affordable, her husband, the former president, talked to a gathering of Wall Street executives at the swanky Four Season Hotel in Midtown Manhattan about his views on recent current events, such as Ebola and terrorism. Bill Clinton was the key note lunch speaker for the Veritas Capital annual meeting.
A spokesman for Bill Clinton declined to comment and wouldn’t deny that the former president received a 6-figure speaking fee; Alexandra LaManna, a representative for the firm Sard Verbinnen which represents Veritas, also wouldn’t deny the account.
A Veritas executive told FOX Business that Bill Clinton’s speech was “just the usual stuff,” though he described Clinton as “relaxed” as he spoke to the private equity firm.
Both Clintons have come under criticism for accepting large speaking fees from major Wall Street firms, even as Hillary Clinton claimed recently that her and her husband were “dead broke” after he left office in 2001. Since then both have become millionaires through various business ventures, including speaking engagements sponsored by large corporations and major Wall Street investment banks.
Hillary Clinton, for instance, earned $400,000 from Goldman Sachs for just two speaking engagements back in 2013.
But such speeches are likely to become a campaign issue if Hillary Clinton decides to run for president in 2016, particularly if she faces a challenger from the far left of her party, such as Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has been critical of the Clintons’ ties to big banks and other major corporations.
Bill Clinton’s choice of Veritas would only add to the impression that Hillary Clinton, once elected to offices, would show favoritism to her supporters in the business community. Veritas, for instance, has come under criticism for investing in defense contractors that have won contracts through what whistleblowers have said were questionable means. Veritas has denied any wrongdoing.
In 2012, Veritas was in the news again, when its founder, Bob McKeon, hung himself in his home in Darien, Connecticut.