WASHINGTON -- John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, dismissed allegations of influence peddling at the Clinton Foundation made in a book scheduled for release early next month.
Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich, authored by Peter Schweizer, reportedly alleges financial donations to the global non-profit influenced U.S. policy in the Clinton White House and years later at the Clinton State Department.
Podesta, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, dismissed the information in the book as "nothing new" and called into question the motivations of Schweizer, a conservative writer and staffer in the George W. Bush administration.
"It's a book that's written by a former Bush operative who's a reporter for that august news institution, Breitbart.com, or has been in the past," Podesta said in an interview with Al Hunt that will air on the PBS show "Charlie Rose." "He's cherry-picked information that's been disclosed and woven a bunch of conspiracy theories about it. The facts, there's nothing new about. The conspiracy theories we'll get to judge when we read the book.
"The only reason those facts are out there is because the Clinton Foundation has put all that out," Podesta added. "They've gone beyond any foundation of like size that's operating globally in public disclosure."
Podesta also questioned "exclusive agreements" Schweizer struck with The New York Times, The Washington Post and Fox News "to pursue the story lines found in the book."
"I think they have to be asking themselves is that appropriate behavior," Podesta said.
The book has already become fodder for 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who declared his bid for the White House this month, said the book's revelations would “shock people” and raise questions about Clinton's judgement and qualifications for the presidency.
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