The next time you hear scary things about the Clinton campaign — Clinton Foundation nexus, remember that Hillary Clinton has released her tax returns, and that the Clinton Foundation is a separate entity with its own non-profit tax filing. Here’s a reminder of what the Foundation does:
Because of our work, more than 31,000 American schools are providing kids with healthy food choices in an effort to eradicate childhood obesity; more than 105,000 farmers in Malawi, Rwanda, and Tanzania are benefiting from climate-smart agronomic training, higher yields, and increased market access; more than 33,500 tons of greenhouse gas emissions are being reduced annually across the United States; over 450,000 people have been impacted through market opportunities created by social enterprises in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia; through the independent Clinton Health Access Initiative, over 11.5 million people in more than 70 countries have access to CHAI-negotiated prices for HIV/AIDS medications; an estimated 85 million people in the U.S. will be reached through strategic health partnerships developed across industry sectors at both the local and national level; and members of the Clinton Global Initiative community have made more than 3,500 Commitments to Action, which have improved the lives of over 430 million people in more than 180 countries.
The “scandal” at the Foundation is about potential, not actual access:
The behavior depicted in the latest emails does not appear to have significantly harmed the conduct of U.S. diplomacy, distracted from Ms. Clinton’s performance or even, given the evidence available, been particularly frequent. It certainly is not enough to launch a criminal investigation. As political scandals go, this is middling, at best.
But it suggests that some donors to the Clinton Foundation may have seen their gifts as means to buy access...
Emphasis mine. There’s no quid quo pro here, just the possibility that there might have been.
On the other hand, Donald Trump remains an owner of The Trump Organization:
It is owned and managed by Donald Trump and his three eldest children—Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump—serving as EVPs within the organization.[5]
The Trump Organization has interests in real estate development, investing, brokerage, sales and marketing, and property management. The company owns, operates, invests, and develops residential real estate, hotels, resorts, residential towers, and golf courses in different countries, as well as owning several hundred thousand square feet (several hectares) of prime Manhattan real estate. It lists involvement in 515 subsidiaries and entities with 264 of them bearing Trump's name and another 54 including his initials.[11] With investments within the United States and globally, The Trump Organization spans a wide variety of industries including real estate, construction, hospitality, entertainment, book and magazine publishing, media, model management, retail, financial services, board game development, food and beverages, business education, online travel, airlines, helicopter air services and beauty pageants.[6][12] It owns a New York television production company that produces television programs including the reality television program, The Apprentice.[13] Furthermore, the company engages in retailing providing fashion apparel, home furnishings, jewelry and accessories, books, chocolate bars, furniture, lighting products, bath textiles and accessories, bedding and home fragrance products, small leather goods, crystal stemware, barware and gifts, and bottled spring water.
Trump has refused to release his tax returns; he remains owner of his eponymous firm; and his campaign has bought services and products from his businesses:
According to documents submitted to the Federal Election Commission, Mr. Trump, whose campaign has just $1.3 million cash on hand, paid at least $1.1 million to his businesses and family members in May for expenses associated with events and travel costs. The total represents nearly a fifth of the $6 million that his campaign spent in the month.
The spending raised eyebrows among campaign finance experts and some of Mr. Trump’s critics who have questioned whether the presumptive Republican nominee, who points to his business acumen as a case for his candidacy, is trying to do what he has suggested he would in 2000 when he mulled making an independent run: “It’s very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.”
Trump’s international footprint includes licensing or joint venture deals in Canada, Turkey, South Korea, Dubai, Panama, Dominican Republic, Philippines and Scotland. Trump’s personal investment portfolio is owned by The Trump Organization:
Public stock investments within his portfolio include General Electric, Chevron, UPS, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Comcast, Sanofi, Ford, ConocoPhillips, Energy Transfer Partners, Altera, Verizon Communications, Procter & Gamble, Bank of America, Nike, Google, Apple Inc., Philip Morris, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Whole Foods, Intel, IBM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Caterpillar, Kinder Morgan, AT&T and Facebook.
Let’s remember, too, that Trump entities have declared bankruptcy six times, and that Trump and his businesses have been parties to over 4000 lawsuits, including at least 70 since he declared his candidacy.
So: On the one hand, we have the barest hint of impropriety at the Clinton Foundation, an entity not owned by the Clintons that has a demonstrated record of doing good in the world; and on the other hand, we have The Trump Organization, owned in part directly by the candidate, with international interests, stakes in public stocks, and a demonstrated record of financial shenanigans. We have a candidate who released her tax returns, and a candidate who refuses to do so. Where is the greater likelihood of a quid pro quo?