Nonprofit groups are concerned over the Congressional order to the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation to disclose by February 20 the names of all donors who have given or pledged more than $5,000 toward the Clinton Presidential Library. The House Committee on Government Reform, in the process of investigating whether the pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich was influenced by his ex-wife’s $450,000 donation to the library, issued the directive February 13.
Advocates and attorneys for some of the nonprofits said the subpoena could prove a dangerous threat to the First Amendment, according to the February 15 Little Rock Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Others who have served on presidential library foundations said releasing the list could set a dangerous precedent.
“There is a long tradition and a need in fundraising to keep these things private,” said Don Wilson, who led the fundraising campaign for the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation. “Individuals give and they give anonymously. It’s very difficult to seek money and say that it will be a public record.”
Clinton Foundation President Skip Rutherford told the Democrat-Gazette that he is awaiting the advice of legal counsel on whether to resist the order. “Many individuals give because they want to give and for honorable reasons,” he said, “not for publicity or to be solicited by other charitable organizations.”
Posted February 19, 2001.