--- title: Hillary Clinton: Clinton Foundation Scandal Hurt Campaign description: The public deserves to hear from Clinton an honest explanation of why she felt all of this was appropriate. canonical: https://time.com/4466911/hillary-clinton-email-excuses/ author: Elise Jordan article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-26T00:41:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:25.216Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Hillary Clinton's Reaction to Foundation Scandal Is Disastrous og:description: 'It's not only about what the Clintons did, but how they react' og:url: https://time.com/4466911/hillary-clinton-email-excuses/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary Clinton's Reaction to Foundation Scandal Is Disastrous twitter:description: 'It's not only about what the Clintons did, but how they react' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Hillary Clinton's Reaction to Her Foundation Scandal Is Disastrous > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=2b6f6844-9159-4278-86ea-c3a0fc37afa8&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 430,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 50.7% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Sam Jacobs, Editor-in-Chief | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Globally minded knowledge seekers. Readers who turn to journalism to understand the world, with meaningful concentrations among educators, students, media professionals, civic institutions and knowledge workers. ### TIME Inside TIME: key statements * Inside TIME is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Inside TIME is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=2b6f6844-9159-4278-86ea-c3a0fc37afa8&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/subscribe?i=2b6f6844-9159-4278-86ea-c3a0fc37afa8&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is Inside TIME? Inside TIME is a twice-weekly newsletter written by TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs. It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. It reaches 430,000 subscribers with a 50.7% open rate as of August 2026. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Nearly 15,000 New Hillary Clinton Emails Recovered as Part of FBI Probe [Watch (HLS stream): Nearly 15,000 New Hillary Clinton Emails Recovered as Part of FBI Probe](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vmWJaLzD.m3u8) (1:16)  _Published 2016-08-23. The State Department says it is reviewing nearly 15,000 previously undisclosed emails recovered as part of the FBI’s now-closed investigation into the handling of sensitive information that flowed through Hillary Clinton’s private home server._  by [Elise Jordan](https://time.com/author/elise-jordan/)  ## Elise Jordan Aug 26, 2016 12:41 AM UTC  by [Elise Jordan](https://time.com/author/elise-jordan/)  ## Elise Jordan Aug 26, 2016 12:41 AM UTC I recently sliced the tip of my toe on an ocean barnacle. This happened at 6pm on a Friday of a long-awaited beach weekend, so I avoided the emergency room for stitches. Overdosing on rosé was no cure. My minor wound kept bleeding. I finally went to the doctor when I got home where I got crutches, antibiotics for the infection, and an avoidable weeklong recovery for a tiny cut, for no reason other than my bullheadedness. As I watch Hillary Clinton wish away the [fallout](http://www.npr.org/2016/08/25/491282347/saving-lives-or-selling-access-explaining-the-clinton-foundation) of the Clinton Foundation’s unseemly ties with the State Department during her tenure as Secretary of State, I can’t help but think that her self-inflicted wound just bleeds and bleeds and bleeds. Every day that she [fails](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/24/politics/clinton-blasts-ridiculous-trump-attacks-on-foundation/) to seriously address the rotten consequences of her poor judgment, Clinton further erodes the already lacking public trust in her. By avoiding a sincere display of contrition, she risks her candidacy and the foundation her family built. “I know there’s a lot of smoke, and there’s no fire,” Clinton [told](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/24/politics/clinton-blasts-ridiculous-trump-attacks-on-foundation/) CNN’s Anderson Cooper in a rare interview. The numbers on the alleged pay-to-play are damning: as [reported](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FCAMPAIGN%5F2016%5FCLINTON%5FFOUNDATION?SITE=AP) by the Associated Press, of 154 non-official meetings or phone calls on her schedule as Secretary of State, at least 85 of those individuals were private-sector donors who contributed up to $156 million to Clinton Foundation initiatives. The report comes on top of other far more incriminating investigations revealing the appearance of quid pro quo with foreign donors to the Clinton Foundation. Perhaps the worst example was when [investors](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html) who profited from the Clinton State Department’s approval of a deal for Russia’s atomic energy agency’s acquisition of a fifth of America’s uranium mining rights subsequently pumped money into the Clinton Foundation. The Clintons subsequently did not fulfill the Obama administration’s request for public disclosure of foreign donations. The public deserves to hear from Clinton an honest explanation of why she felt all of this was appropriate. When it comes to the Clintons, it’s not only about what happens, but how they react. The fact that Clinton has not given a press conference in [264 days](https://gop.com/264-days-since-hillary-clinton-held-a-press-conference/) is far more damaging than the seeming corruption itself. If she didn’t do anything wrong, why won’t she defend herself? By avoiding taking responsibility, Clinton only exacerbates the perception she is dishonest and untrustworthy, the primary hurdle on her path to the White House. Optics matter when the issue is transparency. How ironic that Clinton defenders were quick to attack the AP’s report as cherry-picking from an insufficient sample when the AP had to [sue](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FCAMPAIGN%5F2016%5FCLINTON%5FFOUNDATION?SITE=AP) the State Department for access to the limited records included in their investigation. Sanctimonious surrogates do her no favors. “If any American voter is troubled by the idea that the Clintons to want continue working the AIDs crisis on the side while Hillary Clinton is president, then don’t vote for her,” spokesman Brian Fallon [said](http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/24/cry-baby-brian-fallon-on-the-verge-of-tears-defending-hillary-video/). By turning off voters for asking legitimate questions, the cover-up has ballooned to besmirch even the good things she might have done. Take, for instance, Muhammad Yunus, a 2006 [Nobel](https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel%5Fprizes/peace/laureates/2006/) Peace Prize recipient who pioneered loans to the poor in his native Bangladesh, mischaracterized by the AP as “an internationally known economist” who was pressured by government authorities to resign from his non-profit bank. President Obama [honored](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-names-medal-freedom-recipients) Yunus with a Medal of Freedom in 2009, alongside Jack Kemp, Sandra Day O’Connor and Sidney Poitier. Absolutely the Secretary of State should meet with the godfather of micro-lending to further the common goal of poverty alleviation. But when you are meeting with foreign one-percent-ers more often than Peace Prize winners, the story writes itself. Even though in theory I know the Clinton Foundation does good work, it’s impossible not to question appearances. Contrast the [image](http://www.habitat.org/how/carter.aspx) of former President Jimmy Carter wielding a hammer for Habitat for Humanity in the rural South with [Bill Clinton](http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/29/politics/bill-clinton-plane-landing-africa/) jet-setting about Africa on a do-gooder field trip for rich people. It comes down to Clinton’s judgment, and the culture she and the former President create. Even if you give Clinton the benefit of the doubt that her staff acted on her behalf trading access in a way that’s technically above board, she created the culture that encouraged the behavior. As Secretary of State, she did not clip her husband’s wings, a scary precedent that promises Bill Clinton would be a distraction for her entire presidency. The unseemly overlap of the Clinton Foundation with her official role as our nation’s lead diplomat shows she cannot keep her worlds separate and disconnected. Maybe she didn’t technically do anything wrong, but what’s wrong is that she skirted the line so closely that there’s debate over what actually happened. For years, insider trading was [legal](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/04/fact-sheet-stock-act-bans-members-congress-insider-trading) for members of Congress, but that doesn’t mean it was the right thing to do. We are right to expect better of people in public service. And that’s why this election comes down to one question. Is Hillary Clinton’s judgment better than that of Donald Trump, whom she adroitly called out as a man who can be baited with a tweet? The answer is the depressingly low bar by which voters will decide who is more fit to serve as leader of the free world. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4466911/hillary-clinton-email-excuses/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4466911/hillary-clinton-email-excuses/"},"headline":"Hillary Clinton's Reaction to Her Foundation Scandal Is Disastrous","datePublished":"2016-08-26T00:41:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:25.216Z","description":"'It's not only about what the Clintons did, but how they react'","url":"https://time.com/4466911/hillary-clinton-email-excuses/","keywords":["politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Elise Jordan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/elise-jordan/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4466911/hillary-clinton-email-excuses/","name":"Hillary Clinton's Reaction to Her Foundation Scandal Is Disastrous"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Nearly 15,000 New Hillary Clinton Emails Recovered as Part of FBI Probe","description":"The State Department says it is reviewing nearly 15,000 previously undisclosed emails recovered as part of the FBI’s now-closed investigation into the handling of sensitive information that flowed through Hillary Clinton’s private home server.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vmWJaLzD/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-08-23T13:53:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vmWJaLzD.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4466911/hillary-clinton-email-excuses/","duration":"PT1M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4466911/hillary-clinton-email-excuses/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```