Corruption Is The Name Of The Game In Hillary's State Department

Politics: Hillary crony Cheryl Mills had quite the sweet side deal while 'working' for the State Department

Image Credit: Stanford University

Published by: Dan Calabrese on Monday October 19th, 2015

She got over $300,000 in severance from NYU while cutting deals with the Clinton-friendly UAE. Oh, and Bill made bank on a speaking gig of course.

If you still don't understand why Hillary Clinton's e-mail server is newsworthy, maybe this will help. Cheryl Mills was Hillary's chief of staff at the State Department, but for the first four months of their shared tenure there, the government wasn't paying Mills. Well. That's unusual! Why would that be?

I'll tell you why: Because not getting paid by the government meant she was not technically an employee, and as such was subject to the same conflict-of-interest rules as government employees. Oh, don't worry. Mills wasn't working for free. Her compensation was coming from New York University, which not only allowed her to collect $330,000 in severence pay in direct conflict with NYU's stated policy, but also allowed her to negotiate a deal for NYU to establish a campus in the UAE that oh, by the way, just happened to result in a lucrative speaking gig for a certain William Jefferson Clinton.

The Wall Street Journal has more details:

According to the Post, Ms. Mills was not paid by the U.S. government during the early months of the new Obama Administration, but was instead “officially designated as a temporary expert-consultant—a status that allowed her to continue to collect outside income while serving as chief of staff.” Outside of the Clintons and their staff, who else thinks it’s a good idea for senior State Department officials to be paid by private institutions to cut side deals with Middle Eastern dictatorships—or any foreign governments?

The Post also reports that Ms. Mills says she “received $330,000 in vacation and severance payments when she left the school’s payroll in May 2009.” That’s odd, because NYU policy clearly states that employees who leave voluntarily are not entitled to severance pay.

The school tells us that it normally “does not discuss the specifics of individual employee’s compensation,” but says the payment to Ms. Mills “was not severance in the customary or conventional sense, such as described in the University policy.” NYU adds that “the lump-sum payment to Ms. Mills included both unused, accrued vacation, and payments stipulated in her employment agreement meant to incentivize longer-term service to the University.”

See how this works? Mills gets to rake in way more than she ever could on the government payroll, all while still functioning as chief of staff for the Secretary of State. The Clintons also get to make bank via a speaking engagement negotiated by Mills while she moonlighted from her supposed role as chief of staff. This is a classic Clinton dodge of the ethics rules the government puts in place to ensure that those who work for the U.S. government serve the interests of the U.S., and only the U.S., and not some foreign government whose favor might be wanted so they will be willing to make a big contribution to a certain foundation via direct cash payment or the booking of a high-priced speaking fee.

And what, you ask, does this have to do with Hillary's e-mail server? Simply this: Both are examples of how the government establishes policies that are supposed to apply to its employees - we pay you; we provide your e-mail account - and those in ClintonWorld simply exempt themselves from these policies because that makes it possible for them to serve their own outside interests apart from that of the government or the country.

And keep in mind, all this went on while Hillary was serving as Secretary of State. Can you imagine how widespread this sort of crap would be if - God forbid - she were ever to become president?

Supposedly people don't care at this point because the dishonesty and corruption are already "priced into the Clinton brand" and that means Hillary might still win just on the basis of her experience and her resume. Sure, she's dishonest, but she's capable of doing the job. That's a fanciful notion if I've ever heard one, but even if she was a capable as people want to say she is, how can you be sure she would use those capabilities in the interests of the United States when her track record shows she's perfectly willing to flout ethics rules so she can make side deals with foreign governments for her own enrichment? Just as she sets up her own e-mail server in order to avoid scrutiny (or so she thought) of what is in those e-mails.

These are the kinds of people who will be running the show if Hillary becomes president, and these are the kinds of things they do. And don't think for a minute that they will ever stop and begin operating honestly. They don't know any other way to operate. They've been doing this their entire lives, and a Hillary presidency represents for them the opportunity to go absolutely hog wild with it.

If the voters actually let it happen because they were dumb enough not to see it coming.

Dan recently served as editor for a youth adventure novel written by his son Tony. Titled Shadow Island, it's about a mysterious island in the middle of Lake Michigan, which is discovered by four young Chicago residents - only to unleash a force that threatens the entire city of Chicago. Aimed at young readers, it's available in hard copy or in e-book download formats. Follow all of Dan's work by liking his page on Facebook.