Bill Clinton is set to relaunch his Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting – the gathering of A listers from business, government and charity that he shuttered during Hillary Clinton‘s presidential campaign amid questions about fundraising.
Clinton sent letters to supporters of his charity foundation, Bloomberg News reported, revealing the return of the star-studded annual policy conference held in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly.
‘Just like the world we’re living in, the September meeting will likely look different than the ones we held before,’ he wrote in a letter to CGI members. ‘But what will not be different is the spirit that has driven CGI from the very beginning – the idea that we can accomplish more together than we can apart.’
The Clinton Global Initiative hosted annual meetings from 2005 to 2016 but they were closed down in August 2016 as Hillary Clinton battled Donald Trump for the presidency.
During the 2016 questions were raised about donors to the former president’s charity and whether the Clinton Foundation benefited from Clinton’s role as secretary of state in the Obama administration.
Bill Clinton is set to relaunch his Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting – above he’s seen with Hillary Clinton waiting for daughter Chelsea to run by in the NYC marathon in November 2021
Clinton’s annual meeting brought together many a-listers – including Alicia Keys above at the September 2009 meeting
The posh gatherings involved many bold faced names, including Bill Gates, King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan, Richard Branson, Ashley Judd, Alicia Keys, Tony Bennett, Charlize Theron, Barbara Streisand, George Soros, Jamie Dimon, Bono, Brad Pitt, and Rupert Murdoch.
Overall fundraising for the Clinton Foundation, which also includes the Clinton Development Initiative and the presidential center in Little Rock, Arkansas, has dropped since Clinton’s loss to Trump, Bloomberg News reported.
It reported $16.3 million in contributions in 2020, down from its 2016 peak of $62.9 million, according to tax filings.
In January, there was chatter Bill and Hillary Clinton wanted to return to politics, helping Democrats in this fall’s midterm election.
Another way the Clintons could flex their influence is by resurrecting the Clinton Global Initiative.
The Clintons came under scrunity when a Washington Post investigation in November 2015 revealed the couple had set up a global network of donors to support their foundation and outside of government work.
At the time they had raised $3 billion.
The Post identified donations from roughly 336,000 individuals, corporations, unions and foreign governments, leading to questions on whether foreigns were trying to influence Hillary Clinton, when she was secretary of state, by giving to her husband’s foundation.
The Clintons denied any improperity.
Bono was a regular at Clinton’s annual meeting – the last one took place in the 2016 campaign when Hillary Clinton was battling Donald Trump for the presidency
Jon Bon Jovi greats President Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, President Bill Clinton, and Bill Austin during the September 2016 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting
Bill Clinton speaks with Brad Pitt at the 2009 meeting
Bill Clinton, 75, has battled poor health in the past year. Last fall, he spent five days in a Southern California hospital receiving treatment for a urological infection.
The infection was caused by E. coli developed into sepsis, a life-threating reaction to an infection.
Clinton, who had a quadruple heart bypass in 2004, was in Southern California for a ‘series of events’ when he fell ill. He later returned to the couple’s Chappaqua residence to finish his recovery.