Bill Clinton on Monday announced that he will step down from the board of the family foundation and no longer raise funds for it if his spouse Hillary Clinton is elected as the next president of the United States.
Hillary Clinton, 68, is the Democratic presidential nominee and is seeking to become the first woman to be elected as a US president.
The former US President’s announcement came hours after Hillary’s Republican rival Donald Trump demanded that the Clinton Foundation be shut down.
“If she is elected, we will immediately implement the following changes: The Foundation will accept contributions only from US citizens, permanent residents, and US-based independent foundations, whose names we will continue to make public on a quarterly basis,” Bill said in an email to his supporters an members of the foundation.
“We will change the official name from the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation to the Clinton Foundation. While I will continue to support the work of the Foundation, I will step down from the Board and will no longer raise funds for it,” he said.
Much of the Foundation’s international work, like that of most global NGOs, is funded in part by donor governments’ bilateral aid programs, he said.
“If Hillary is elected, we will transition those programmes out of the Foundation to other organisations committed to continuing their work. Doing this in a way that ensures continuity and is respectful of all the employees working around the world will take time. We will complete these transitions as soon as we can do so responsibly,” Bill said.
Bill said since his wife began her presidential campaign in 2015, Chelsea and he have made it clear that the work the Clinton Foundation should continue if Hillary is elected, but that changes would be necessary.
“While it would be presumptive to assume a victory in November, now that Hillary is her party’s nominee, it would be irresponsible not to plan for it,” he said.