Bill Clinton used federal money to subsidize foundation staff, server

Bill Clinton used federal funds to pay staff — (Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Bill Clinton has used funds from the 1958 Former Presidents Act more liberally than his living former presidential peers, spending taxpayer money to subsidize the income and provide federal benefits for his office staff, some of whom also worked at various times at the Clinton Foundation and a consulting firm run by Clinton loyalists, and to pay for IT equipment, including at least one server briefly housed at the Foundation and used for Clinton's correspondence by both his office and Foundation staff, Politico reports. Those on Clinton's former-presidents federal payroll at some point include Justin Cooper, the aide who set up Hillary Clinton's private server, and Doug Band, a Clinton Foundation figure in frequent contact with Hillary Clinton's aides at the State Department.

Politico, which pieced together its report from General Services Administration records and tax filings, says none of this is illegal, but "it does offer fresh evidence of how the Clintons blurred the line" between Bill Clinton's official office, the family charity, and his wife's tenure at the State Department. Every former president gets $96,000 a year to spend on staff, and Bill Clinton's ex-president office typically had 10 staff; the main benefit of the $9,600 from the GSA, augmented by Clinton, appears to be that it entitles the staffer to receive federal benefits. Clinton "wears several hats — among them being former president of the United States and the founder of the Clinton Foundation," a Clinton aide tells Politico. "His staffing reflects those roles."

The Former Presidents Act was passed to help Harry S Truman avoid an embarrassing retirement; none of his successors have had similar money problems, including Bill Clinton. Clinton has received about $16 million from the GSA since leaving office, more than any other ex-president in that period, but "part of that likely stems from Clinton's approach to his ex-presidency, which is far more active and public than that of his former commander-in-chief peers," Politico notes. You can read more at Politico.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.