<p>The <em>Clinton Cash</em> documentary combined with the trove of hacked John Podesta emails released by WikiLeaks put Hillary Clinton under serious pressure to shut down the notorious Clinton Foundation during her presidential campaign. Should she be elected, the &ldquo;charity&rdquo; would represent a serious conflict of interest.  ;</p>
<p>In response to this pressure, the ;Clintons decided to shut down the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) &#8211; a foundation offshoot founded in 2005 that seeks to address &ldquo;significant global challenges&rdquo; by brining powerful people together. ;</p>
<p>According to Bill Clinton, CGI aims to create &ldquo;a global network of citizen activists who reach across the divides of our interdependent world to build real communities of shared opportunities, shared responsibilities, and a genuine sense of belonging.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>As he looked forward to becoming the country&rsquo;s first &ldquo;First Gentleman,&rdquo; Bill Clinton announced in August that he would be shutting down CGI. ;</p>
<p>Hillary lost the election, but it looks like Bill&#8217;s promise is coming true anyway. Seventy-four CGI employees were laid off this winter, and 22 more will be terminated in the spring. The &ldquo;charity&rdquo; will officially close on April 15th. ;</p>
<p>The funny part about all this is that some of CGI&rsquo;s biggest donors are pulling out &ndash; proving once and for all that the Foundation was more than just a &ldquo;charity.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;This wasn&rsquo;t just for charitable ends,&rdquo; says Brian Morgenstern of the Manhattan Republican Party. &ldquo;As the initiative is closing its doors, you see foreign governments who had pledged tens-of-millions of dollars pulling their donations now that Hillary Clinton will not be the president. That shows a lot of people that this was more than just a charity. This was a way for the Clintons to network and really peddle influence due to their positions in leadership.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>The Australian government, which donated roughly $88 million to the Clinton Foundation over the past decade, has decided not to renew its partnership this year. Norway slashed donations from $20 million in 2015 to just over $4 million in 2016. ;</p>
<p>This behavior suggests that foreign governments were not interested in philanthropy, but in currying favor with a woman they believed to be America&rsquo;s future president. Such claims are backed by documents released by WikiLeaks.</p>
<p>In October, WikiLeaks released a 2011 memo from Bill Clinton&rsquo;s former presidential aid Doug Band in which he attempts to &ldquo;clarify my activities on behalf of the President &ndash; both on behalf of non-profit Foundation activities and the management of his for-profit business opportunities.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Turns out Mr. Band&rsquo;s company &ndash; Teneo &ndash; had &ldquo;consulted and raised money for the Clinton Foundation while simultaneously securing lucrative speaking and consulting gigs for the former president,&rdquo; reports <em>National Review. ;</em></p>
<p>The line between charitable donation and Clinton profit was remarkably blurry, and the men and women involved knew it. ;</p>