Bill Clinton Foundation’s Biggest Donor Is Ukrainian Jew Who Does Business With Iran
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The largest single donor to the Clinton Foundation, a Ukrainian businessman who backs Jewish causes, reportedly also trades with Iran, according to Newsweek.
Victor Pinchuk, a Jewish pipeline magnate, has sold his pipelines to Iran, the magazine reported Tuesday.
The report comes as Hillary Clinton, a declared Democratic candidate for the presidency, faces increased scrutiny over whether she had conflicts of interest during her 2009-2013 stint as secretary of state. A focus of recent media queries has been on donors to charities founded and helmed by her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
One document shows a $1.8 million sale in 2012 for “seamless hot-worked steel pipes for pipeline” to a city near the Caspian Sea. U.S. sanctions apply to entities that trade in sums above $1 million with Iran’s energy sector.
Interpipe, Pinchuk’s company, has not been sanctioned, although U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Calif., raised questions last year about its Iran dealings in a letter to the Treasury, Newsweek reported.
Pinchuk’s biography on his foundation’s website notes his backing for Ukrainian Jewish causes and an award he received for advancing Ukrainian-Jewish relations.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
