Clintons raised $2B for foundation since 2001

The Clintons have raised nearly $2 billion for their foundation since 2001, according to a report Wednesday in The Washington Post.

The sum for the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation includes donations from foreign governments and top Wall Street executives that could draw scrutiny as Hillary Clinton prepares for a possible 2016 presidential bid.

{mosads}In 2013 alone, the foundation raised $262 million.

The Post report also highlights the overlap between donors to the foundation and contributors to political groups supporting the Clintons, including Ready for Hillary, a super-PAC formed to encourage her candidacy. 

According to the Post, nearly half to the top donors to the super-PAC have given at least $10,000 to the Clinton Foundation directly or through other entities.

The report also finds a strong reliance on big foreign donors. Foreign donors make up a third of those giving more than $1 million and more than half of those whose contributions top $5 million.

Polls show Clinton to be the clear Democratic front-runner, but the foundation’s fundraising prowess could leave her facing tough questions, in particular if she faces a primary challenge from the left.

Conservative groups are already seizing on the foreign donations, with America Rising PAC on Wednesday launching a petition calling for the Clintons to return money donated from foreign governments.

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday first reported that the Clinton Foundation has resumed accepting donations from foreign governments and entities after a self-imposed ban during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of State.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and a Canadian government agency backing the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline project were among the group’s contributors.

But the foundation is defending its fundraising, saying the donors are merely contributing to the group’s many charities abroad.

“The Clinton Foundation is a philanthropy, period,” the foundation’s chief communications officer Craig Minassian told the Post.

The Post reports that the group raised $1.69 billion from 2001 to 2013. That tally neared the $2 billion mark at the end of 2014.

While the foundation releases contributor lists, they only provide donations within broad ranges, making it difficult to pinpoint how much specific groups or individuals have given.