Has the State Department become a place of bribery, corruption and cronyism? It seems so.
The Daily Caller has a new report out that suggests about $9 million of State Department funds were funneled through the Peace Corps to a non-profit organization that is run by Dr. Vanessa Kerry, Secretary of State John Kerry’s daughter.
Reportedly, the State Department had funded a Peace Corps program called Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) that was initiated by Kerry and officials from both groups. The Peace Corps had then awarded the funds without competition to Seed Global Health, a non-profit his daughter started for the program.
At first, a three-year, $2 million contract was given to the organization in September 2012 – Kerry had been chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which actually oversees both agencies. The non-profit was then provided with a four-year extension in September 2015 without any competition worth $6.4 million when he was Secretary of State.
The non-profit was given another $1 million in that same year.
Interestingly enough, the State Department had attempted to bury “its intent to transfer funds to the Peace Corps in its required congressional notification.”
Ultimately, the conclusion being made is that Kerry and officials had worked together to ensure Seed would receive the contract. But everyone is denying the blatant conflict of interest.
Here is a statement from Seed spokesperson Mark Marino:
“No conflict of interest exists in our partnership with Peace Corps and the US government. Dr. Vanessa Kerry is primarily employed by and paid through Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kerry receives no financial compensation from the Peace Corps or US government. Funding from the Peace Corps, an independent agency in the federal government, represents about 27% of Seed’s total $6.3 million budget this fiscal year.”
The State Department certainly has some unscrupulous leaders in charge in recent memory (Albright, Rice, Clinton and Kerry).
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