An opinion piece questions whether a new book about the Clintons will have any negative effect on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
CNN's Errol Louis writes that the allegations in the upcoming book —
"Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich" — are not to be taken lightly.
In one instance, the Clinton Foundation accepted a donation from Canada's Foreign Affairs Department, which is promoting the Keystone XL Pipeline. The State Department, under Hillary Clinton, "all but endorsed" the project, Louis writes, but
President Barack Obama eventually vetoed the bill that would have started the project.
"And several news outlets have reported that banks and other companies with business before the U.S. government were donors to the Clinton Global Initiative, a sister group that was spun off from the Clinton Foundation," Louis writes. "CNN's Alexandra Jaffe wrote last month that 'listings for the Clinton Global Initiative's Annual Meeting found partnerships with at least six banks that were under investigation, involved in litigation or had been fined by government agencies and regulators at the time of the meeting. In every case, the bank in question was listed as a sponsor of the event even after the investigations were widely reported in the media.'
"Those are serious matters — but so are stubborn unemployment, troubled schools, high taxes and other problems that top the list of voters' concerns. A bank giving money to charity in hopes of buying leniency from the government is a cause for concern, but until and unless a smoking gun appears in the form of a clear exchange of money for favors, it becomes hard to say what, exactly, is wrong with donating cash to aid in a good causes like combating world hunger or helping to rebuild Haiti."
Louis argues that
revelations from the book, which comes out May 5, might not actually have that much of an impact on Clinton's campaign.
"Unless the forthcoming book unveils some blockbuster new information, questions about the Clintons' charities is likely to wind up on the same political shelf on which voters seem to have parked concerns about Hillary Clinton's use of private emails to conduct State Department business," Louis writes.
Clinton does have reason to not be worried, as she is the
leading Democrat by far in polls at this point in the campaign. No other Democrats have entered the race, although a handful are being discussed as potential opponents.
Republicans, meanwhile,
have taken aim at Clinton since she announced her candidacy for president more than a week ago. Clinton responded Monday
by saying all the GOP does is talk about her.
"I think it's worth noting that Republicans seem to be talking only about me," Clinton said during a campaign stop in New Hampshire. "I don't know what they'd talk about if I weren't in the race."