Newly Released Email Shows Bill Clinton Paid $500,000 for Moscow Speech While Hillary Opposed Russia Sanctions

A previously leaked e-mail and a suspect coincidence show that Hillary Clinton and the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. had very similar interests back in 2010.

The reports are leading to further speculation about the former First Lady’s willingness to adopt her political platforms depending on who was willing to pay.

A new Fox News report indicates that Mrs. Clinton and the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, shared mutual opposition to sanctions against Russia in 2010.

Veselnitskaya’s opposition seems self-explanatory, as her interests clearly were in benefiting her country.

But Clinton’s became a curiosity based on the fact that her husband, former president Bill Clinton, had given a paid speech in Moscow around that time – to the tune of $500,000.

Via Fox News:

The Russian lawyer who landed a meeting with Donald Trump Jr. during last year’s presidential campaign with the promise of dirt on Hillary Clinton had one big thing in common with the Democratic candidate: Both had opposed Russia sanctions targeting human-rights abusers.

Further, former Secretary of State Clinton’s initial opposition coincided with a $500,000 speech her husband gave in Moscow – a link her 2016 campaign fought to downplay in the press, according to WikiLeaks-released documents.

Trump White House officials now are trying to draw attention to that speech and the Clintons’ ties to Russia in a bid to counter criticism over Trump Jr.’s now-infamous meeting.

An e-mail from a Clinton campaign staffer bragged about being able to spike the story in the mainstream media.

The message, titled “May 21st Nightly Press Traffic Summary,” ran off a list of key points for Clinton’s rapid response group.

“With the help of the research team, we killed a Bloomberg story trying to link HRC’s opposition to the Magnitsky bill to a $500,000 speech that WJC gave in Moscow,” the e-mail read.

At a press briefing last week, Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pointed out that “Bill Clinton was paid half a million dollars to give a speech to a Russian bank, personally thanked by President Putin.”

“If you want to talk about having relationships with Russia, I’d look no further than the Clintons,” she added.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton points out that the $500,000 speech only came to light through a leaked campaign e-mail, openly wondered what other Clinton-Russia connections have yet to be revealed.

“You have to wonder how many other donations were made by Russian connection entities we don’t know about,” he said.

Fitton also made this very important statement – while Don Jr. was meeting with a Russian lawyer as a private citizen, the Clintons were involved in a very real conflict of interest.

“Her husband (was) getting a half a million dollars directly from the Russians while she was secretary of state,” he explained.

“I can’t imagine if the spouse of Rex Tillerson or the spouse of any other cabinet official got a half a million dollars from a foreign government while that official was in office.”

[totalpoll id=”107803″]

Is Bill Clinton’s speech for $500,000 at the same time Hillary voiced opposition to Russian sanctions the real scandal here? Share your thoughts below!

Rusty Weiss has been covering politics for over 15 years. His writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, Fox... More about Rusty Weiss

Mentioned in this article: