With criticism mounting over her use of well-paid speaking engagements to build her personal wealth, Hillary Clinton told ABC News on Friday that she has donated all the money she was paid for appearances on college campuses during the last year and a half to her family's foundation.
“All of the fees have been donated to the Clinton Foundation for it to continue its life-changing and life-saving work. So it goes from a foundation at a university to another foundation,” Clinton told ABC News' Ann Compton.
The Post reported earlier this week that Clinton likely made more than a million dollars for by speaking at eight universities — including four public schools — during the past year.
The University of Connecticut — which just raised tuition by 6.5 percent — paid $251,250 from a donor fund for Clinton to speak on campus in April. Other examples include $300,000 to speak at the University of California at Los Angeles in March and $225,000 for a speech scheduled for October at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
The potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate also has been paid for speeches at the University at Buffalo, Colgate University and Hamilton College in New York, as well as Simmons College in Boston and the University of Miami in Florida — all of which declined to say how much they paid Clinton.
However, if the former secretary of state earned her standard fee of $200,000 or more, that would mean she took in at least $1.8 million in speaking income from universities in the past nine months.
Some political strategists believe that Clinton’s six-figure campus speaking fees could become a political liability for her in the 2016 campaign since top Democrats — including President Obama and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — have made issues such as income inequality and college affordability a central plank of the party’s agenda. Reported by Washington Post 7 hours ago.
“All of the fees have been donated to the Clinton Foundation for it to continue its life-changing and life-saving work. So it goes from a foundation at a university to another foundation,” Clinton told ABC News' Ann Compton.
The Post reported earlier this week that Clinton likely made more than a million dollars for by speaking at eight universities — including four public schools — during the past year.
The University of Connecticut — which just raised tuition by 6.5 percent — paid $251,250 from a donor fund for Clinton to speak on campus in April. Other examples include $300,000 to speak at the University of California at Los Angeles in March and $225,000 for a speech scheduled for October at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
The potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate also has been paid for speeches at the University at Buffalo, Colgate University and Hamilton College in New York, as well as Simmons College in Boston and the University of Miami in Florida — all of which declined to say how much they paid Clinton.
However, if the former secretary of state earned her standard fee of $200,000 or more, that would mean she took in at least $1.8 million in speaking income from universities in the past nine months.
Some political strategists believe that Clinton’s six-figure campus speaking fees could become a political liability for her in the 2016 campaign since top Democrats — including President Obama and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — have made issues such as income inequality and college affordability a central plank of the party’s agenda. Reported by Washington Post 7 hours ago.