Many high-profile HSBC account holders were included in the massive, recently-released HSBC leak. Among them were large contributors of the Clinton Foundation, reported The Guardian.
According to the Guardian, the Clinton Foundation has received approximately $81 million “from wealthy international donors who were clients of HSBC’s controversial Swiss bank.” The leak named seven people who are large backers of the Clinton Foundation that held HSBC accounts at the bank’s Swiss branch.
Some of the donors were Frank Giustra, who is a Canadian mining tycoon, and Richard Caring, whose business is retail. The leak showed that Caring donated $1 million to the Clinton Foundation from his Swiss HSBC account. These money connections draw suspicion onto Clinton considering what she has said about income inequality in the past.
From the Guardian:
Hillary Clinton has expressed concern over growing economic inequality in the US and is expected to make the issue a cornerstone of her widely anticipated presidential campaign in 2016. However, political observers are increasingly asking whether the former secretary of state’s focus on wealth inequality sits uncomfortably with the close relationships she and her husband have nurtured with some of the world’s richest individuals.
Despite Clinton receiving money from these HSBC clients, CommonDreams noted that the leaks show no evidence that Clinton’s donors engaged in any tax evasion practices. Even still, Clinton proclaims her concern for the 99 percent, yet she rubs elbows with the wealthy elite.
“If you look at her track record from the past, it is out of step with the current Democratic Party,” said Charles Chamberlain of the liberal Democracy For America. “Not on social issues, but definitely on economic issues, so we’re going to be watching very carefully.”
Hillary Clinton is a pro-Wall Street New Democrat. How can we trust her to regulate the Wall Street banks when these are the people she’s cozied up with? We can’t. The wealthy pays her money, and she will protect them.
