May 27 2016, 8:11 p.m.
WHEN HILLARY CLINTON’S son-in-law sought funding for
his new hedge fund in 2011, he found financial backing from one of the biggest
names on Wall Street: Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein.
The fund, called Eaglevale Partners,
was founded by Chelsea Clinton’s husband, Marc Mezvinsky, and two of his
partners. Blankfein not only personally invested in the fund, but allowed
his association with it to be used in the fund’s marketing.
The investment did not turn out to
be savvy business decision. Earlier this month, Mezvinsky was forced to shutter
one of the investment vehicles he launched under Eaglevale, called Eaglevale
Hellenic Opportunity, after losing90 percent of its money betting
on the Greek recovery. The flagship Eaglevale fund has also lost money, according to the New York Times.
There has been minimal reporting on
the Blankfein investment in Eaglevale Partners, which is a private fund that
faces few disclosure requirements. At a campaign rally in downtown San
Francisco on Thursday, I attempted to ask Hillary Clinton if she knew the
amount that Blankfein invested in her son-in-law’s fund.
After repeated attempts on the rope
line, I asked the Clinton campaign traveling press secretary Nick Merrill, who
said, “I don’t know, has it been reported?” and said he would get in touch with
me over email. I sent the question but have not heard a response back.
The decision for Blankfein to invest
in Hillary Clinton’s son-in-law’s company is just one of many ways Goldman
Sachs has used its wealth to forge a tight bond with the Clinton family. The
company paid Hillary Clinton $675,000 in personal
speaking fees, paid Bill Clinton $1,550,000 in personal
speaking fees, and donated between $250,000 and $500,000 to the Clinton
Foundation. At a time when Goldman Sachs directly lobbied Hillary Clinton’s State Department, the
company routinely partnered with the Clinton Foundation for events, even
convening a donor meeting for the foundation at the Goldman Sachs headquarters
in Manhattan.
Clinton has dodged questions about
her relationship with Goldman Sachs throughout the campaign. In January, we
were the first to ask Clinton if she would release the transcripts of her paid
speeches to Goldman Sachs. She responded by laughing and turning away. Since our question, other media
outlets, including the New York Times editorial board, have called on Clinton to release
the transcripts.
Clinton at times tried to
conflate the money she received with campaign finance donations to Barack Obama
— though the issues are separate; Obama never personally profited from paid speeches
before running for president.
Clinton most recently said she would
only release the transcripts if Bernie Sanders and her Republican opponents
also reveal transcripts of their paid speeches. Disclosures show Sanders made $1,867.42 from two paid speeches and a
television appearance last year, and donated the money to a nonprofit in
Vermont that assists low-income families.
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