Clintons made millions speaking to NY firms, colleges

WASHINGTON – Living in New York has been lucrative for Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton — and for their foundation.

From their Westchester County home in Chappaqua, the Clintons have easy access to dinners and forums in Manhattan, where they’ve reported collecting fees exceeding $200,000 almost every time they give a speech.

They’ve also earned big paychecks speaking at companies, nonprofits and colleges around the state.

Last July 29, a Corning Inc. corporate plane carrying executives from Washington to the firm’s headquarters in Steuben County stopped along the way to pick up the former first lady and presidential candidate, who was being paid $225,500 to deliver a speech to the executives, according to Corning spokesman Daniel F. Collins.

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign reported last week that the couple earned more than $25 million between January 2014 and March of this year, much of it from speeches.

On Thursday, the Clinton Foundation also released information about millions of dollars it’s received since 2002 from speeches made by the couple and their daughter, Chelsea. The Clintons did not disclose their speech earnings along with their personal income because the money went directly to the foundation.

Clinton’s personal financial disclosure also said she earned more than $5 million for her 2014 book, “Hard Choices.”

Brian Fallon, a spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, did not respond to a request for comment.

Groups ranging from Hamilton College and Colgate University to Goldman Sachs and Citibank each paid Hillary Clinton more than $250,000 for speaking engagements, money she donated to the Clinton Foundation.

The foundation posted a list of speeches on its website Thursday that reports income from the speeches in broad ranges. The list shows that 16 of Hillary Clinton’s speeches since 2002 earned a total of between $2.95 million and $6.25 million for the foundation.

In addition, she earned personal income delivering 51 speeches between Jan. 6, 2014 and March 19 this year.

Bill Clinton also has earned money for the foundation delivering speeches to colleges. He charged between $100,000 and $250,000 to both the University of Rochester and the University of Albany, which is part of SUNY.

The steep fees the couple has charged colleges could become a campaign issue, since Hillary Clinton advocates making college more affordable. Another candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, advocates free tuition at public universities.

Several news organizations reported earlier this week that income from some of Hillary Clinton’s speeches doesn’t appear on her personal financial disclosure, an omission Republicans were quick to criticize.

“Hillary Clinton’s biggest weakness continues to be that voters see her as an untrustworthy and out-of-touch politician,” said Ian Prior of American Crossroads, a Republican super PAC. “Failing to disclose millions that the Clintons collected in speech income certainly isn’t going to help Hillary hit the reset button on her increasingly negative image.”

As part of her commitment to be the featured speaker at Corning’s global senior management meeting on July 29 last year, Hillary Clinton also met privately with top executives for several hours, Collins, the Corning spokesman, said.

The purpose of the event “was to expose our leadership to her knowledge, insights and experience of dealing on a global stage and across global markets,” Collins said in an email. “It is Corning’s practice to engage paid speakers who can share unique experiences with our leadership team.”

Not only has Hillary Clinton received a hefty fee for each speech, on at least one occasion she delivered two in a single day.

She reported receiving $225,500 from the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association on March 13, 2014. The event was held in Orlando, Fla., according to association spokesman Charles Cote.

That same day, she reported receiving $250,000 from the Drug Chemical and Associated Technologies Association for speaking at the association’s annual dinner held in Manhattan, according to executive director Margaret Timony.

Xerox, which is headquartered in Norwalk, Conn. and has major operations in Rochester, paid Hillary Clinton $225,500 to speak March 18, 2014 at the company’s Simple@Work event in Manhattan.

Xerox had “almost 1,000 clients from around the world,” said company spokeswoman Karen Arena.

“The event was designed to help clients manage their business processes in industries we serve, like customer care, HR and financial services, among others,” she said. “Clients gained valuable insight from her global leadership and broad perspective.”

Deutsche Bank AG paid both of the Clintons for speeches. Bill Clinton received $270,000 for an August 27 speech in Boston and Hillary Clinton was paid $280,000 for an Oct. 7 speech. Both fees were part of their family income.

Entergy Corp., which owns the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan about a 25-minute drive from the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua, paid the former president $250,000 for a June 5, 2014 speaking engagement.

Follow Brian Tumulty on Twitter @NYinDC