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January 5, 2009, 02:15 PM ET
Clinton Foundation Gift Attracts Scrutiny
Former President Bill Clinton’s foundation received a $100,000 donation in November 2004 from a New York developer whose mall project received millions of dollars in federal assistance around the same time it secured the help of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, reports The New York Times.
Weeks before the donation was made, Mrs. Clinton helped establish legislation that allowed Robert J. Congel to use tax-exempt bonds to help pay for the construction of the Destiny USA entertainment and shopping complex in Syracuse, N.Y. About nine months after the donation was made, she also helped obtain a provision in a highway bill that allocated $5-million for Destiny USA roadway construction.
Mr. Congel and Philippe Reines, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, both said there was no connection between Mr. Congel’s gift and her legislative efforts on behalf of his project. Mr. Reines said Mrs. Clinton supported the project “purely as part of her unwavering commitment to improving upstate New York’s struggling economy, and nothing more.”
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