‘Clinton University’: Does Hillary Clinton Have A Trump University Problem?
Hillary Clinton may have a “Clinton University” problem equivalent to the controversy surrounding the Trump University scandal that has complicated the rival presidential campaign of GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump, according to various media reports.
The Democrat presumptive nominee’s husband, former president Bill Clinton, received about $16 million from Laureate Education, a giant for-profit college company, in the 2010-2015 time frame for his role as part-time honorary chancellor, BloombergPolitics previously detailed.
Laureate affiliate Walden University, an online entity, is, or was, apparently being sued on similar grounds as those brought by some ex-Trump University students dissatisfied with the real estate training they received.
Laureate operates 80-plus colleges around the world and five in the U.S.
Walden University “has a history of problems” revolving around alleged student loan violations and is being audited by the U.S. Department of Education, the American Thinker asserted.
?For anyone not clear on The Trump U Full story I urge u to learn about:
Laureate Education?https://t.co/2eqrfnGGfe pic.twitter.com/Txus1xlJjn— Kristin Billitere (@SpecialKMB1969) June 4, 2016
On his blog, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, a self-described liberal Democrat, observes that the news media has taken virtually no interest in the Laureate litigation while the Trump University controversy continues to make headlines.
“Laureate Education was sued over its Walden University Online offering, which some alleged worked like a scam designed to bilk students of tens of thousands of dollars for degrees. Students alleged that they were repeatedly delayed and given added costs as they tried to secure degrees, leaving them deeply in debt. Laureate itself has been criticized for ‘turbocharging’ admissions while allowing standards to fall and shortchanging education.”
Parenthetically, most of the headlines were generated by Trump’s controversial comments about the presiding federal judge, an Obama appointee, rather than the case itself, however. CNN, in particular, has been covering the controversy over Trump’s remarks with the magnitude of the way it would about another missing Malaysian airliner.
There is LOTS more to the LAUREATE EDUCATION story–will the mainstream ignore this? For shame!https://t.co/nAtEXx6rQR
— Charles Ortel (@CharlesOrtel) June 7, 2016
Reacting to the huge payday that Bill Clinton received from Laureate for evidently making a few promotional speeches overseas, Turley continued.
‘The size of this payment (which has been widely reported) raises obvious concerns as to what the company was seeking to achieve and whether Laureate received any benefit from the association with the State Department given its massive international operations. Various sites have reported that the State Department funneled $55 million in grants during Hillary Clinton’s tenure to groups associated with Laureate’s founder. That would seem a pretty major story but virtually no mainstream media outlet has reported it while running hundreds of stories on the Trump University scandal.”
According to Inside Higher Education, Hillary Clinton has campaigned in part on cracking down on the excesses of sketchy for-profit colleges which often fail to deliver on promises, “But the Democratic front-runner also has an array of connections to the for-profit education industry that some observers have said raise questions about the type of influence for-profit colleges would enjoy under a Clinton administration.”
Breitbart News claims that a connection exists between the Clinton Foundation and Laureate, from which Bill Clinton allegedly abruptly resigned in April of 2015.
“The reason for Clinton’s immediate departure: Clinton Cash revealed, and Bloomberg confirmed, that Laureate funneled Bill Clinton $16.46 million over five years while Hillary Clinton’s State Dept. pumped at least $55 million to a group run by Laureate’s founder and chairman, Douglas Becker, a man with strong ties to the Clinton Global Initiative. Laureate has donated between $1 million and $5 million (donations are reported in ranges, not exact amounts) to the Clinton Foundation.”
In what some would put describe as an example of crony capitalism, Clinton foes have alleged that foreign governments (including those with poor human rights records) and multinational corporations gave massive donations to the Clinton Foundation in exchange for favorable treatment by the U.S. State Department while Hillary Clinton served as America’s top diplomat.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, Wall Street whistle blower Charles Ortel argues that the Clinton charitable family foundation is a fraud.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3__-5XzCBKw
A class-action lawsuit in Maryland federal court against Walden University (similar to the one pending against Trump University) was dismissed last year, but for reasons that are unclear.
“However, the size of the contract to Clinton, the grants from State and the complaints over alleged fraud should warrant a modicum of attention to the controversy. The controversy has many of the familiar complaints over fraudulent online programs that take advantage of hard-working people,” Prof. Turley added.
[Photo by Julio Cortez/AP]
Added: Jonathan Turley discusses the Clintons’ ties to Laureate Education on The Kelly File.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXY1bEK8WHA
