The gist of “Clinton Cash,” which has led to a massive, coordinated rebuttal from the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, is that without the access that only Clinton could provide, Giustra would not have met leaders like Uribe or Nazarbayev who may have helped his business dealings. And without Giustra, Clinton would not have the convenience of a private luxury jet or to millions of dollars of donations from wealthy Canadian miners. “My money is more effective backing Clinton than any other person I can think of on this planet,” Giustra told The Globe and Mail in 2008. Non-disclosure The Clintons have denied that the appearance of quid pro quo is not as it appears. Giustra has done the same. “I sold all of my stakes in the uranium company – Uranium One – in the fall of 2007, after it merged with another company,” Giustra said after The Times published its report on the Kazakh deal last month. While it may be true that Giustra does not directly hold Uranium One stock, he is still tied to the company through his investments in other mining companies and mining financiers. Many of his close associates were still closely involved in Uranium One well into Hillary Clinton’s tenure at the State Department. Ian Telfer, who was the chairman of Uranium One when it was acquired by Rosatom, donated $2.35 million to the Canadian arm of the Clinton Foundation through his charity, the Fernwood Foundation. Frank Holmes, the CEO of U.S. Global Investors, held $4.7 million in shares with Uranium One as of 2011. He donated between $250,000 and $500,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Neil Woodyer, who was an adviser to Uranium One and founded Endeavour Mining with Giustra, donated between $50,000 and $100,000 to the foundation. Many of the companies and their executives are likely among the 1,100 donors that the Clinton Foundation has admitted were not disclosed. That despite a promise the Clintons made in 2008 to disclose all of its donors. A July 2013 archived page from the Clinton-Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative website sheds some light on what companies have donated to and sponsored the Canadian wing. The list includes names like Endeavour Mining, Gold Fields, Gran Colombia Gold, Pacific Rubiales, Rusoro, and, curiously, Uranium One. GMP Securities and Holmes’ U.S. Global Investors are also listed as sponsors. Both companies, described to TheDC as being part of a “triumvirate” along with Endeavour, have helped arrange financing deals for Giustra’s numerous mining industry deals and were involved in the Uranium One deal. A request for comment sent to Giustra’s Fiore Financial email account was not returned. The Clinton-Giustra Enterprise Partnership also did not respond to a request for comment. The Canadian arm of the foundation has claimed that Canadian law prohibits the disclosure of donors without their permission, though the claim has been widely disputed. In denying the appearance of quid pro quo, both Clinton and Giustra say they have respect for each others’ commitment to humanitarian causes. Though as The Globe and Mail noted in its 2008 Giustra profile: “until a few years ago, [Giustra] had only dabbled in philanthropy, funneling to local charities and organizing the occasional fundraiser.” Rusoro-Gold Reserve dispute If Giustra’s interests vis a vis Clinton are not conflicted, the same cannot be said about his dealings with Gold Reserve Inc. and Rusoro. Giustra was the chairman of Endeavour Financial from 2001 to 2007 and is currently a major shareholder and a board member of Endeavour Mining, which is closely related to Endeavour Financial. The two entities share many of the same personnel, and Giustra’s Fiore Financial reportedly shares office space with Endeavour. A recent financial disclosure shows that Giustra holds 6.8 million shares of Endeavour Mining.
As Russian interests gradually took control of Uranium One millions of dollars were donated to the Clinton Foundation between 2009 and 2013 from individuals directly connected to the deal including the Chairman of Uranium One, Ian Telfer. Although Mrs Clinton had an agreement with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors to the Clinton Foundation, the contributions from the Chairman of Uranium One were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons.
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