Let slip the Dogs of War - dishing the dirt on Billary

The Right wing attack dogs are out now. The NYT fingered slick Willy on Friday , "After Mining Deal, Financier Donated to Clinton " . Tiny but perfectly formed and evidently well connected Frank Giustra (he plays the trumpet ) made a $31.3 million donation in early 2006 to Bill Clinton's Library, that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month.He also publicly pledged to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million recently.

The connection ? Well slick Willy was holding Frank's hand on Sept. 6, 2005, when they both visited Nursultan A. Nazarbayev in Almaty, Kazakhstan and they flew out on Frank's beautiful MD-87 jet with preliminary agreements his company, UrAsia Energy Ltd.
signed with Moukhtar Dzhakishev President of Kazakhstan’s state-owned uranium agency, Kazatomprom giving it the right to buy into three massive uranium mining projects at Akdala, Inkai and Kharasan. (all scheduled to be in production Q1 2008)

The transaction was finalized in November, after UrAsia raised the money through the largest initial public offering in the history of Canada’s Venture Exchange. (Note the involvement of Dr. Sally Eyre in UrAsia's affairs)

On 31st January 2007, a Canadian mining company called Uranium One one of the world’s largest uranium companies ranked by market capitalization agreed to pay C$3.1 billion to acquire UrAsia. Mr. Giustra, a director and major shareholder in UrAsia, would be paid C$7.05 per share for a company that just two years earlier was trading at C10 cents per share.

The Wall Street Journal (now oned by Rupert Murdoch) on January 22nd had the intriguing headline, "Bill Clinton May Get Payout of $20 Million". This involved Yucaipa Cos.an investment firm run by his billionaire friend Ron Burkle.

Slick Willy had signed on as a senior adviser to closely held Yucaipa - the financial side of the arrangement was Ron agreed to give Billy boy a share of the profits from two Yucaipa domestic investment funds if their returns reached a certain threshold. This cosy arrangement ended in early 2007, five years after it began. But Mr. Clinton still hasn't settled the issue of his payout.

In the complicated world of these matters Billy Boy is also a partner in Yucaipa Global Partnership Fund LP and had invested some of his own dosh in the fund. He also had an interest as one of three owners of the global fund's general partner (the folks who actually run the fund) . The others are Ron, who is the managing member ( he does the heavy lifting) , and an entity (Dubai Investment Group (YGP) Ltd.,) connected to the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

The WSJ says , with its tongue firmly wedged in its cheek, "Mr. Clinton's duties and activities as a Yucaipa adviser have never been completely clear to outsiders."

Ron has contributed large amounts of cash to the Clintons’ campaigns, their legal defense fund, and to the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. The question is, and has always been, what will Ron Burkle get in return for his generosity to the Clintons? Especially if Hillary wins the presidency.


Pic of Slick Willy with his tiny pal Mr Giusta