Seems Hillary Clinton’s finger prints are everywhere but the Oval Office. 

Remember the main argument Democrats have been using to push back against the Nunes Memo? “The FBI investigation didn’t start with the Clinton-funded Steele Dossier. It began with an Australian diplomat warning the U.S. about another Trump adviser!”

Well, put another shoe on the barbie. It turns out that very same Australian diplomat was responsible for a $25 million donation to the Clinton Foundation. John Solomon and Alison Spann broke the story last night at The Hill. 

Once again, there’s a Clinton connection to the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign. In fact, every element cited as basis for the Trump-Russia collusion investigation has its roots with Hillary. A Hillary Clinton spokesman tells The Hill any connection between the 2006 grant and the current Russia investigation is “laughable.”

Perhaps. But let’s see how funny the situation really is. 

The Aussies Pump Money into Clinton Foundation

In 2006, Alexander Downer was Australia’s foreign minister. He secured a $25 million donation from the Aussie government to the Clinton Foundation to help fight AIDS in Asia. Signed the deal with Bill Clinton himself.

Downer boasted of the Foundation’s “impressive track record to provide practical assistance with procurement, supply chains and health system strengthening.” At the time, says writer Michael Smith, the Clinton Foundation’s Asia Pacific operations had “a total staff of one.” 

The money was re-routed to the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). Although auditors accused the charity of inadequate budget oversight and “management weaknesses,” the project did help thousands of HIV-infected patients in Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, China and Indonesia. 

The Clinton Foundation defends the Australian donation and urges Americans to focus on those patients helped. Their statement to The Hill also notes the $25 million was a small percentage of the $2 billion a year the Australian government doles out in developmental assistance. 

All told, the Australian government pumped $88 million into the Foundation between 2006 until shortly after the 2016 election. Nearly $9 million a year. In fact, according to The Australian, Australia was “the single biggest foreign government source of funds for the Clinton Foundation.”

That raised eyebrows Down Under. Wrote The Australian, as quoted by news.com.au: “It’s not clear why Canberra had to go through an American foundation to deliver aid to Asian countries (including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam). There is now every chance the payments will become embroiled in presidential politics.”

Indeed, why go through a middle man? A man named Clinton.

Presidential Politics

The Clinton Foundation was founded in 1997. The Clinton Health Access Initiative in 2002. What was going on in 2006 that could explain the Aussies suddenly breaking open the piggy bank? The Australian newspaper offered a clue in 2008. “The donation was made when the insurgency in Iraq was crippling the presidency of George W. Bush and when Ms. Clinton was clear favourite for the Democratic nomination for the 2008 election.” 

In other words, Hillary Clinton was set to be next President of the United States. 

Australian money began flowing into the Foundation. It continued flowing through Hillary’s time as Secretary of State and the 2016 campaign. The Foundation wasn’t the only one rolling in Aussie dough. Throw in Clinton’s Global Partnership for Education and Australia funneled $460 million into Clinton-affiliated groups. (And former Aussie prime minister and vocal Hillary supporter Julia Gillard became chairman of the Global Partnership.)

But in late November 2016, the money stopped. Australia announced it was not renewing any of its Foundation partnerships. (Despite signing a five-year pledge in 2014.)

What was going on late November 2016? Hillary Clinton was not going to be President of the United States.

Perhaps …

Perhaps the timing is coincidental. Perhaps they simply realized the wasteful Clinton Foundation was not the wisest place to put their charitable dollars. Charity Navigator had put the Foundation on its “watch list” of problematic non-profits 20 months before. 

So, you might be saying, the Clinton Foundation was a “slush fund.” So the Aussies — like so many other nations and players — gave millions to the Clinton’s rather than directly to charities actually on the ground. An ante. The price of having a seat at the Clinton Table. 

Certainly such seats paid off. The International Business Times detailed the benefits for Clinton donors when it came to arms deals while Hillary was Madam Secretary. We know all about Russia and Uranium One. 

But what’s that have to do with Alexander Downer and Trump Russia Collusion Investigation? Perhaps nothing. Perhaps nothing beyond proving Hillary had friends in high places Down Under. That Downer and the Clinton’s had a business ties.

Perhaps it just sets the stage for the drama now being played.

Downer and the Investigation

Alexander Downer is now Australia’s ambassador to London. In May 2016 he meets in a London bar with a young chap named George Padapolous. The one-time Trump campaign adviser is a talker. A boaster. Particularly, it seems, when drunk. He starts blabbing that the Russian government has dirt on Hillary. He would claim he was told by an associate that Russian officials had obtained Hillary’s emails. 

The U.S. knew by May 2016 that Hillary’s server was easy pickings for our enemies. The early draft of the Comey Memo concluded it was “reasonably likely” Hillary’s emails were grabbed. Fox News reported Monday that Peter Strzok knew of a possible breach, but did nothing.

Downer sat on this barroom blubber for two months. However, when Democratic emails — not Hillary emails, mind you — began showing up on WikiLeaks, the Aussie government decided to share the quadruple hearsay with their American counterparts. 

The positive spin on this: That’s what friends do. The cynical spin: That’s what friends with a long standing relationship with Hillary do in an election battle. 

And on the basis of what an Aussie diplomat says a drunk said an associate said a Russian official said, the FBI launched a probe into the Trump campaign. 

Jim Jordan Cries Foul

Rep. Jim Jordan is crying foul. He can’t believe the FBI kept Downer’s $25 million tie to the Clinton’s away from Congress. Then again, that’s been the pattern, he says. “We continue to get new information every week it seems that sort of underscores the fact that the FBI hasn’t been square with us.” 

Information such as:

• Hillary funding of the Steele Dossier
• Hillary operatives providing information for the Dossier
• Hillary supporters pushing the Dossier and plotting against her opponent
• And now a huge Foundation supporter providing the FBI an opening to investigate Trump.

So why is the Downer connection important?

“The Clintons’ tentacles go everywhere,” says Jordan. “So, that’s why it’s important.”