Former president Bill Clinton said Monday that he will step aside from a health care charity he founded if Hillary Clinton is elected president, severing ties between a potential second Clinton White House and the Clinton Foundation born of the first one.
Bill Clinton sent an open letter to Clinton Foundation donors and supporters Monday, following up on pledges made last week to separate himself from the work of the family foundation and its charity arms if his wife wins the November election. The letter reads like a valedictory for the vast network of charitable enterprises housed under the Clinton banner and which have drawn scrutiny and criticism for potential conflicts of interest for the presidential nominee.
“The process of determining the Clinton Foundation’s future if Hillary becomes president has not been easy,” Clinton wrote. “It’s an unprecedented situation, so there’s no blueprint to follow.”
Neither his letter nor the announcement last week directly addressed what long-term role daughter Chelsea Clinton, long presumed to be the organization’s next leader, will play in a restructured Clinton Foundation. She will remain on the board of directors for a transition period. It was not clear whether criticism of the sometimes-circular relationships among the Clintons, their charitable work and their network of political donors has altered any other succession plans.
