Bill, Hillary, Mr. Chagoury and Hezbollah

by Rebecca Bynum (August 2016)

As was recently reported, a new batch of emails from Hillary Clinton’s State Department have been obtained by Judicial Watch. One read, as related by CNN,

Gilbert R. Chagoury, or Ambassador Chagoury as he prefers to be addressed, since he holds what seem to be honorary Ambassadorships (one to the Vatican for St. Lucia and another to UNESCO), is a very wealthy man. His estimated worth is $7.4 billion. A gallery at the Louvre is named for him and his wife. He is well known for making large donations and among those he has donated to, the Clinton Foundation stands out. He has given the Clinton Foundation between $1 million and $5 million. In 2009, he also pledged $1 billion to the Clinton Global Initiative. Robin Urevich revealed quite a bit about Mr. Chagoury in an extensive investigative piece for PBS’s Frontline.

In addition to his a large donations to the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative, he has also donated to Mrs. Clinton’s previous Presidential campaign according to the Wall Street Journal from 2008:

Mr. Chagoury contributed $460,000 to a tax-exempt voter-registration group connected to the Democratic National Committee. A 1997 Washington Post article said that Mr. Chagoury subsequently received an invitation to a White House dinner for Democratic Party supporters. He also met with Clinton administration officials on Nigeria and later talked privately about his efforts to influence U.S. policy toward that country, says a person familiar with the matter.

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Doug Band heads the Clinton Foundation and a global consulting business called Teneo Holdings connected to the Clintons. It was his email requesting a favor for Chagoury from the State Department which surfaced in the latest FOIA disclosure by Judicial Watch. According to an article in Newsmax (2009):

He also created the Clinton Global Initiative which according to the same article raised $46 billion dollars in just four years. Some of those funds came from Mr. Chagoury. So where, then, did Mr. Chagoury get his wealth?

The big money seems to have started flowing his way when he became an advisor to Sani Abacha, the military ruler and de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998. Returning to the Frontline expose:

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In 2000, Chagoury was convicted in Geneva, Switzerland, of laundering money and aiding a criminal organization in connection with the billions of dollars stolen from Nigeria during the Abacha years.

However, Argand says that Chagoury had already decided on his own to return it. In the end, he says, his client agreed to a plea deal: Chagoury would pay a fine of a million Swiss francs and hand over $66 million to the Nigerian government. Swiss authorities promised to expunge the conviction after two years, which they have done.

In 1999, Chagoury won immunity from prosecution in a separate looted-assets case in Nigeria by agreeing to return money that he held in Swiss bank accounts. The precise amount that Chagoury returned is unclear.

(…)

Chagoury has since used those funds he kept in order to reinvent himself as a great businessman/philanthropist and patron of the Catholic Church.

Mr. Chagoury with Pope Francis

organization which is pro-Hezbollah – yes you read that right, pro-Hezbollah, pro-Assad and pro-Iran. You may remember back in September of 2014, Ted Cruz addressed this group with a pro-Israel message, was booed, scolded the audience in return and unceremoniously left the stage. Lee Smith gives some background in the Weekly Standard:

Chagoury, who according to leaked U.S. diplomatic cables has supported Michel Aoun, Hezbollah’s key Christian ally in Lebanon. A 2007 cable also explains that Chagoury is close to Suleiman Franjieh Jr., another pillar of Lebanon’s pro-Damascus, pro-Hezbollah March 8 political coalition and a man who calls Assad his friend and brother. Former prime minister of Lebanon Fouad Siniora suggested to then U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman “that the U.S. deliver to Chagoury a stern message about the possibility of financial sanctions and travel bans against those who undermine Lebanon’s legitimate institutions.”

Remember, it was Ambassador Feltman whom Chagoury asked to see in the leaked State Department email. Since this cable dates from 2007, it is safe to say the Siniora’s recommendation never came to pass. But the question remains, what was the real purpose of IDC? How deep are Chagoury’s ties to the terrorist group, Hezbollah? Did any of this influence the State Department or the Iran deal? And did Hillary Clinton refuse to list Boko Haram as a terrorist organization while at the State Department as a favor to Chagoury?

Stay tuned.

 

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The Real Nature of Religion, published by New English Review Press.

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Rebecca Bynum contributes regularly to The Iconoclast, our Community Blog. Click here to see all her contributions, on which comments are welcome.